Longtime White House correspondent Helen Thomas has abruptly retired amid the fallout over her controversial statements about Israel, her employer announced Monday.
News of Ms. Thomas’ retirement, which Hearst Newspapers said was effective immediately, came shortly after the White House rebuked the veteran journalist for saying the Israelis should “get the hell out of Palestine” in a Web interview last week. Press secretary Robert Gibbs called the statement “offensive and reprehensible” at Monday’s briefing with reporters.
Mr. Gibbs noted that Ms. Thomas, 89, has apologized for her remarks, which she made to the website RabbiLive.com after a White House function celebrating America’s Jewish heritage.
As a result of the comments, her speaking agency had dropped her and a suburban Maryland high school canceled a commencement address she was slated to deliver.
“I think those remarks were offensive and reprehensible,” Mr. Gibbs said. “I think she should and has apologized, because obviously those remarks do not reflect certainly the opinion of, I assume, most of the people in here, and certainly not of the administration.”
Rabbi David Nesenoff, an independent filmmaker from Long Island, N.Y., who runs the website, told the Associate Press he approached Ms. Thomas outside the White House after being there for the May 27 event.
Asked if she had any comments on Israel, Ms. Thomas said Israelis should leave their country and “go home” to Poland, Germany and the United States. A video clip of the interview has been circulating for the past few days, drawing fierce condemnations from across the political spectrum, as well as from her colleagues.
With a seat in the center of the first row, the diminutive Ms. Thomas had occupied prime real estate in the White House briefing room. She did not attend Monday’s press briefing.
Ms. Thomas, a Washington fixture who has covered 10 U.S. presidents in the course of her 50-year White House career, has become an outspoken critic of American foreign policy in the Middle East in recent years. A daughter of Lebanese immigrants, she did little to hide her pro-Arab views and routinely asked Mr. Gibbs why U.S. troops were still in Iraq and Afghanistan.
On Friday, Ms. Thomas posted a statement on her website apologizing for the comments.
“I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heartfelt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon,” she wrote.
But the damage appeared to have already been done, as denunciations continued to pour in Monday. In a statement, the White House Correspondents Association called the remarks “indefensible.”
“The White House Correspondents Association board firmly dissociates itself from them. Many in our profession who have known Helen for years were saddened by the comments, which were especially unfortunate in light of her role as a trailblazer on the White House beat,” the group said.
Ms. Thomas has often been lauded as a pioneer for female reporters who broke numerous professional barriers in an industry long dominated by men. She spent nearly six decades working for United Press International before joining Hearst as a columnist in 2000.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.