http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0410/Jones_apologizes_for_Jewish_joke.html?showall

National Security Adviser James Jones has apologized for an “off the cuff” joke that threatened to undermine a White House charm offensive aimed at American friends of Israel.

Though Jones’s audience at a pro-Israel think tank didn’t take offense, the joke drew a denunciation from the Anti-Defamation League and questions about its content, which seemed to merge Jews and Israelis and to make the Taliban the victims.

Jones’s statement today:

I wish that I had not made this off the cuff joke at the top of my remarks, and I apologize to anyone who was offended by it. It also distracted from the larger message I carried that day: that the United States commitment to Israel’s security is sacrosanct.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Monday that the White House had “no intention to deceive” in leaving the remarks off a transcript off the event, which he said were in fact the prepared text. He said the White House hadn’t asked for Jones’ apology which “rightly speaks for itself.”