The fact that Mayor de Blasio’s speech at the Manhattan meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was unannounced is causing a stir. There’s a terrific dispatch on it by one of the ferrets at the Times, Kate Taylor, formerly of the Sun. She reports that His Honor assured Aipac’s members that “part of my job description is to be a defender of Israel.” Ms. Taylor reports that the appearance, at the Hotel Hilton, “was not listed on the mayor’s public schedule” and that “a reporter who tried to attend was escorted away by the security staff.”

Ms. Taylor quotes the mayor as noting that organizers of the event had asked that no journalists attend. But, she reported, the “seemingly secretive nature of Mr. de Blasio’s appearance” led to “questions about the transparency of his young administration, especially given his repeated pledges during last year’s campaign to oversee a more open and inclusive City Hall than that of his predecessor.” She quotes Mr. de Blasio as offering “a measured mea culpa” and adding, at a City Hall news conference, “We do owe you a clear understanding of where I am and what I’m doing.”

The reason all this is so intriguing is owing to Mr. de Blasio’s left wing politics. Even though “many New York politicians speak at the annual gatherings of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee” and “in the past Mr. de Blasio has not been shy about expressing support for Israel,” the Times transponded, “some New Yorkers in his liberal base are not as sympathetic to the Israeli cause.” Gawker put the story up on its Web site under the headline, “Reporter Kicked Out of Bill de Blasio’s Secret Pro-Israel Speech.”

Well, not much stays secret in the internet age. The Web site Capital New York, which broke this story, posted an audio clip of His Honor’s hortation. Nice to hear the mayor stepping up for Israel, even if it’s behind closed doors. One of the things Mr. de Blasio vowed to the big pro-Israel lobby is that “City Hall will always be open to Aipac.” Quoth the mayor: “When you need me to stand by you in Washington or anywhere, I will answer the call, and I will answer it happily, because that’s my job.” Bravo, we say. No doubt there will be many occasions to test the mayor’s mettle. Meantime, we say, welcome to the fight.