Joe Eszterhas, the screenwriter behind "Basic Instinct," has accused Mel Gibson of ditching plans to produce a film about Jewish hero Judah Maccabee because Gibson "hates Jews," according to a letter obtained by TheWrap.com. Now where would he get that idea?

It was an odd proposition, to be sure: Gibson, who went on an infamous anti-Semitic tirade during a 2006 DUI bust, was just coming off a prolonged battle with ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva that included the leak of a cache of his thermonuclear voice mails. According to Eszterhas, Gibson claimed the movie would be a "Jewish Braveheart," but in reality, the writer says, Gibson planned to pursue the movie only as a way to deflect the career-crippling anti-Semitism charges.

Warner Bros. recently put the project on hold, telling Eszterhas that the script had "no sense of triumph." The story, traditionally celebrated at Chanukah, is about the 2nd century B.C. rebellion led by Judah Maccabee against Syrian and Greek forces in Judea.

"I've come to the conclusion that the reason you won't make "The Maccabbes" is the ugliest possible one," Eszterhas writes. "You hate Jews." Eszterhas then catalogues a long list of anti-Semitic comments and slurs made by Gibson in his presence, including calling Jews "oven-dodgers," insisting that the Holocaust was "mostly" bull, and that the Torah referenced the sacrifice of Christian babies. Gibson also reportedly called Pope John Paul II "the anti-Christ," and went into explosive rages about Grigorieva, including threatening to rape and kill Grigorieva. There's much, much more.

On the plus side, Eszterhas never saw Gibson drink. On the minus: Gibson allegedly said all these things stone cold sober.

Gibson responded to Eszterhas in a letter also sent to the Los Angeles Times. In it, he says he and Warner Bros. decided not to make the film based on Eszterhas' script because it was "substandard" and a "considerable waste of time." He claims Eszterhas manufactured most of his allegations in the letter, but did admit that he blew up at the writer while they were staying at his Costa Rican retreat.

"I was very frustrated that when you arrived at my home at the expense of both Warner Brothers and myself you hadn’t written a single word of a script or even an outline after 15 months of research, meetings, discussions and the outpouring of my heartfelt vision for this story," Gibson writes. "I did react more strongly than I should have. I promptly sent you a written apology, the colorful words of which you apparently now find offensive."

Gibson ends the letter by writing, "I think that we can agree that this should be our last communication."