

Netanyahu

David Gregory has walked back his jarring statement, on twitter.

This am I called Israeli PM the leader of the jewish ppl. Better to say he’s leader of jewish state.

Gregory had gotten hammered. By Scott Roth: you made a serious mistake in referring to the Israeli PM as the “leader of the Jewish People.” Josh Marshall doesn’t like it either. The underlying question is, Why did he say it? David Gregory is Jewish; does he believe at any level that Netanyahu is his leader?

Let’s unpack this some more. Netanyahu at the General Assembly a year ago said he was the leader of the Jewish people:

On behalf of Israel and the Jewish people, I extend that hand again today… As the prime minister of Israel, I speak for a hundred generations of Jews who were dispersed throughout the lands, who suffered every evil under the Sun, but who never gave up hope of restoring their national life in the one and only Jewish state.

But I guess you are the leader of the Jewish people if Israel is declared the nation of the “Jewish people.” Netanyahu to Congress:

President Obama rightly referred to Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people…

Tony Karon at Time: