Netanyahu denies calling papers 'enemies'

JERUSALEM, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu denied Thursday he called The New York Times and Haaretz Israel's two greatest enemies.

Jerusalem Post editor Steven Linde alleged Wednesday in an address to the Women's international Zionist Organization in Tel Aviv that Netanyahu said so in a private meeting.

Haaretz reports Linde told the conference: "Netanyahu said, 'You know, Steve, we have two main enemies.' And I thought he was going to talk about, you know, Iran, maybe Hamas. He said, 'It's The New York Times and Haaretz.' He said, 'They set the agenda for an anti-Israel campaign all over the world. Journalists read them every morning and base their news stories … on what they read in The New York Times and Haaretz.'"

Netanyahu's office released a statement Thursday denying the claim. The statement said that Iran and Hamas were in fact Israel's two greatest enemies.

The Prime Minister's Office asked Linde to publish a clarification, which he has, saying that the remarks he made were actually his analysis of his conversation with Netanyahu.