NEW YORK, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Media mogul Rupert Murdoch said he apologized to the Anti-Defamation League for an online remark denouncing the "anti-Israel" coverage by "Jewish-owned media."
"I feel very strongly about the righteousness of Israel's cause, particularly when its citizens are under missile attack," Murdoch wrote in his letter. "So I do get very upset when I see coverage that I feel is unfair and biased towards Israel. But I should have stuck to the substance of the issue and not bring in irrelevant and incorrect ethnic matters."
Murdoch, chief executive officer of News Corp., called his tweet "awkward and inappropriate" in a letter and a phone call to the ADL, Politico reported Monday.
ADL national director Abraham Foxman on Monday said the group accepted Murdoch's apology.
"After speaking with Mr. Murdoch, it is clear that he deeply regretted posting his remark on Twitter and understands how his reference to 'Jewish-owned media' could play into the age-old anti-Semitic conspiracy theory about 'Jewish control' of the news media," Foxman said in a statement. "We appreciate his effort to apologize, and to make clear that his remarks were an attempt to defend Israel made at a time when the Jewish state is under direct assault, and were not intended to hurt or to offend."
On Saturday, Murdoch posted: "Why is Jewish owned press so consistently anti-Israel in every crisis?"
On Sunday, he tweeted: "'Jewish-owned press' [has] been sternly criticized, suggesting link to Jewish reporters. Don't see this, but apologize unreservedly."
