New York, NY, January 20, 2012 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today denounced as "outrageous and beyond the pale" an opinion column by the owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, who suggested one of the options Israel should consider as it faces down the threat of a nuclear Iran is to assassinate the sitting president of the United States.
Andrew Adler, the owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, reportedly apologized for the January 13 opinion column, in which he wrote that Israel should "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."
Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:
There is absolutely no excuse, no justification, no rationalization for this kind of rhetoric. It doesn't even belong in fiction. These are irresponsible and extremist words. It is outrageous and beyond the pale. An apology cannot possibly repair the damage.
Irresponsible rhetoric metastasizes into more dangerous rhetoric. The ideas expressed in Mr. Adler's column reflect some of the extremist rhetoric that unfortunately exists -- even in some segments of our community -- that maliciously labels President Obama as an 'enemy of the Jewish people.'
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.
Updated: July 12, 2013
In response to the controversy surrounding his column, the editor and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times announced that he was stepping down from day-to-day operations and the newspaper would be put up for sale.