Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, blames a staffer for a tweet quoting him as telling CNN that Israel would be “willing to sit down with Hamas, if they just stop shooting at us.”
Ex-Staffer? RT"@AmbassadorOren: Correction: the earlier tweet about my CNN interview was sent erroneously by a staffer."
— Carl Gustav (@CaptYonah) November 18, 2012
The tweet was captured by automated aggregator Topsy.
The ambassador was quick to clarify his position.
I categorically deny the quote attributed to me by CNN. #Hamas is a terrorist organization dedicated to destroying #Israel & killing #Jews..
— Amb. Ron Dermer (@AmbDermer) November 18, 2012
Worldwide and #Hamas is absolutely not a partner for peace.
— Amb. Ron Dermer (@AmbDermer) November 18, 2012
He also apparently realized that the tweet wasn’t sent by CNN, but by someone tweeting from his account.
@AmbassadorOren What quote do you mean? Please DM me.
— Melissa Gray (@MelissaGrayCNN) November 18, 2012
Correction: the earlier tweet about my CNN interview was sent erroneously by a staffer.
— Amb. Ron Dermer (@AmbDermer) November 18, 2012
Deleting the tweet only seems to have made things more controversial.
https://twitter.com/HunterArmstron/status/269985879114801153
https://twitter.com/catmidnite/status/269984257726873600
Update:
CNN reporter Melissa Gray — or a staffer with access to her account — also deleted a tweet which attributes the quote to Oren. So a CNN employee did send a very similar tweet to the one Oren deleted.
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Gray’s tweet was deleted after she sent these tweets to Oren.
@AmbassadorOren What quote do you mean? Please DM me.
— Melissa Gray (@MelissaGrayCNN) November 18, 2012
@AmbassadorOren Please DM me so we can sort this out.
— Melissa Gray (@MelissaGrayCNN) November 18, 2012
Here’s a tweet from Melissa Gray which rewords Oren’s statement quite a bit.
#Israel 's @AmbassadorOren in interview with CNN: Trying to send message to #Hamas that it can't kill Israelis with impunity.
— Melissa Gray (@MelissaGrayCNN) November 18, 2012
Here’s video of the segment from which the “just stop shooting at us” line originated. The ambassador delivers it not as a condition of negotiations but rather as a command.
Update:
A spokesman for Oren told Buzzfeed the ambassador “signaled in his interview our willingness to sit with our Palestinians neighbours – not with Hamas.”
Editor’s note: This post has been updated to include more information about Melissa Gray’s tweets.
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