Jewish newspaper the Atlanta Jewish Times is retracting its column that suggested putting “hit” on U.S. president Barack Obama, UPI reported. CNN noted that the column didn’t name Obama, but referred to him. The column said, in part:
“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?…How far would you go to save a nation comprised of seven million lives…Jews, Christians and Arabs alike? You have got to believe, like I do, that all options are on the table.”
According to the Guardian, the Jewish Times’ owner and publisher Andrew Adler said “he deeply regrets” the column. Adler added that he wasn’t “suggesting that Israel is seriously considering assassinating the US president.” The Jewish Times is weekly newspaper with a circulation of about 6,500 copies, according to Mondo Times.
Gawker, which wrote about the column Jan. 20 and is credited by the Guardian as having “first brought to light” the column, noted the article isn’t published online but can be read here.
Gawker noted that Adler said that he wrote the column “to see what kind of reaction I was going to get from readers.”
Al Arabiya reported that U.S. Secret Service spokesperson George Ogilvie said “we’re conducting the appropriate investigative steps,” however Ogilvie ” would not comment on whether Adler has been contacted or whether his column was deemed a potential threat to the president.”
Adler plans to apologize in “the next edition” of the Atlanta Jewish Times, according to CNN.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League slammed the column.
We have written to the Jewish Times for comment and will update with any response.