WASHINGTON (JTA) — A Mississippi political Web site apologized for a video that mocked a congressman for visiting Israel.
Yallpolitics.com, which opposes President Obama’s proposals for health care reform, posted a video on its site chiding U.S. Rep. Travis Childers (D-Miss.) for traveling to Israel instead of explaining to constituents under what circumstances he would vote for the package.
The video soundtrack is "Hava Nagila" and a slide of Orthodox Jews is captioned "Go make some new friends."
Alan Lange, who runs the site, removed the video and on Friday apologized "to those who might have taken offense to it." Lange said that Jewish friends "who I trust" told him that the video "while not overtly inflammatory or offensive, had imagery that was ‘on the line’ and could be taken the wrong way without the political context. Since the Jewish faith was certainly not the focus of the video, I immediately made the decision to remove it from YouTube and from YallPolitics."
Childers had joined one of two tours of Israel this month that drew more than 50 lawmakers from both parties. In a statement, he noted that some of his stops in Israel directly dealt with promoting defense industries in Mississippi.
