WASHINGTON (JTA) -- The owner of the Atlanta Jewish Times apologized
for an opinion column in which he counted President Obama's
assassination as among Israel's options in heading off a nuclear Iran.
"I very much regret it, I wish I hadn't made reference to it at all,"
Andrew Adler told JTA on Friday.
He said he would publish an apology in his next edition, and that
reaction from readers had been overwhelmingly negative.
Fox News reported late Friday on its website that the Secret Service
was investigating the column. In his interview with JTA, Adler said he
had not been approached by the Secret Service.
In a Jan. 13 column, Adler, who is also the paper's publisher,
outlined what he said were three possible responses by Israel to
Iran's acquiring a nuclear weapon: a pre-emptive strike against Hamas
and Hezbollah, terrorist groups that he said would be emboldened by a
nuclear Iran; a direct strike on Iran; and "three, give the go-ahead
for U.S.-based Mossad agents to take out a president deemed unfriendly
to Israel in order for the current vice president to take his place,
and forcefully dictate that the United States policy includes its
helping the Jewish state obliterate its enemies."
He continued: "Yes, you read 'three' correctly. Order a hit on a
president in order to preserve Israel's existence. Think about it. If
I have thought of this Tom Clancy-type scenario, don't you think that
this almost unfathomable idea has been discussed in Israel's most
inner circles?"
Gawker, the gossip and media news website, first reported on the
column Friday.
Ophir Aviran, the Israeli consul general in Atlanta, condemned the
column "in the strongest possible terms."
In response to a JTA request for comment, Aviran said in an e-mail
that he was "appalled at this deranged and morally repugnant
assertion."
The Anti-Defamation League condemned Adler's column as "outrageous."
"An apology cannot possibly repair the damage," said the ADL's
national director, Abraham Foxman, in a statement.
Foxman added that "Mr. Adler's lack of judgment as a publisher, editor
and columnist raises serious questions as to whether he's fit to run a
newspaper."
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Jewish newspaper's editor resigns over Obama assassination column
By Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor
(CNN) - A Jewish newspaper owner who attracted U.S. Secret Service
attention for a column suggesting that Israel consider assassinating
an American president has resigned as the paper's editor, employees
there said Monday.
The resignation comes after a firestorm over the column and after a
tearful apology from the editor-in-chief of Georgia's Atlanta Jewish
Times, Andrew Adler.
The JTA reported Monday that Adler is selling the newspaper, but the
office manager, Jerry Farkas, said that was incorrect and that Adler
hadn't announced plans to sell.
The paper's newly named interim editor-in-chief, John McCurdy, said in
an e-mail that he had not talked with Adler about whether he planned
to sell the paper.
Adler wrote a January 13 column about the threat of Iran to Israel,
posing three options for the Jewish state. One was a "hit on a
president in order to preserve Israel's existence."
The column attracted interest from the U.S. Secret Service, with
spokesman George Ogilvie saying Saturday, "We are aware of it. We are
taking the appropriate investigative steps."
In an interview with an Atlanta TV station on Saturday, Adler broke
down as he apologized for the column.
"All I could do now is let President Obama, the State of Israel,
everybody affected in Atlanta's Jewish community … (know) that I'm
sincerely sorry for what has transpired," Adler told Atlanta
Interfaith Broadcasters Inc., straining to choke back tears.
"It's storming outside as we speak, and I've always felt that when a
storm happens that God's angry with me," Adler said.
Farkas said the paper is working with the Jewish Federation of Greater
Atlanta to find a permanent managing editor.
The federation had said that it was suspending its relationship with
the Atlanta Jewish Times until Adler apologized, agreed to stop
writing and gave up editorial control.
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