Harvard professor apologizes for ‘ill-informed’ claim that the Hamas attack on Israel was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempt to distract from ‘his own corruption’
- Laurence Tribe, an emeritus professor at Harvard University, posted the remark on X hours after the surprise Saturday morning Hamas attack Israel
- Tribe deleted his posted after it sparked backlash including, from liberal political commentator Keith Olbermann who called it ‘moronic and indefensible’
- At least 100 people were killed; hundreds wounded with some Israeli civilians and soldiers taken captive and brought into Gaza, the Israeli national rescue service said
A Harvard professor apologized for implying that the Hamas attack on Israel -that has been described as the deadliest attack on Israel in years- was the an attempt to distract from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ‘own corruption.’
Harvard Emeritus Professor Laurence Tribe, who teaches constitutional law, posted the remark on X, formerly Twitter, only hours after a surprise Hamas attack on Israel early Saturday morning that saw militants open fire killing dozens of civilians and soldiers near the Gaza strip.
Tribe expressed his remorse for what he called an ‘ill-informed’ claim and quickly deleted the post, but those who saw it were outraged calling the professor an ‘idiot’ who needs to ‘go commit’ himself somewhere.
Liberal political commentator Keith Olbermann also criticized Tribe’s claims, calling it ‘moronic and indefensible,’ Fox News reported.
Pictured: Harvard Emeritus Professor Laurence Tribe, who teaches constitutional law, posted the remark on X, formerly Twitter , only hours after a surprise Hamas attack on Israel early Saturday
A fiery explosion on a Palestinian apartment building following an air strike by Israel in Gaza City following an attack in Israel by militant Hamas rulers
A crying child in her fathers arms stands in front of a building decimated by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City early Saturday morning
Reporter Julie Kelly was one of those outraged by Tribe’s post and told him to ‘go commit yourself somewhere’
Actor and conservative Matthew Marsden expressed his fury and told Tribe: ‘What an evil person you are.’
In the since deleted post Tribe asked: ‘Is Netanyahu wagging the dog of war to take attention form his own war on the independent judiciary?’
Can anyone put that past him?
The post also linked to the Washington Post coverage of the violent attack taking place in Israel.
The claim he made appeared to be based on a conspiracy theory that Netanyahu is pursuing a war against Hamas militants to distract from his own corruption in government.
Tribe told Fox News Digital the reason for the post and than expressed his apology.
‘I sent the tweet in response to Netanyahu’s reported comments before I saw the news of what Hamas had actually done, at which point I immediately deleted the tweet as a clearly premature, ill-informed and inappropriate response to incomplete information.’
He added, ‘I obviously condemn Hamas’s terrorist attacks and unthinkable atrocities against the Israeli people, including the murder and abduction of civilians, in the strongest possible terms and fully support Israel’s right of self-defense, notwithstanding my long-standing condemnation of the Israeli occupation of Gaza and its activities in the West Bank.’
Thousands of rockets were launched and Hamas gunmen ambushed at least 22 territories outside the Gaza strip, including towns, and communities located approximately 15 miles from the Gaza border, the Associated Press reported.
Many of the armed militants were reported to have roamed the streets for hours gunning down innocent people. At least 100 people were killed and hundreds wounded. Some Israeli civilians and soldiers were taken captive and brought into Gaza, the Israeli national rescue service said.
Army spokesperson Daniel Hagari told the news outlet said militants were also carrying out hostage standoffs in two towns.
By Saturday afternoon, hours after the deadly attack, Netanyahu said: ‘What happened today will not be seen in Israel and I will make sure it does not happen again,’ he said.
‘The IDF will immediately use its full force to destroy Hamas’ capabilities. We will avenge this black day.’
‘We will turn all the places in this evil city where Hamas is hiding into ruins. Residents of Gaza, get out of there now.’
An Israeli flag is being burned in a celebration by supporters of Hezbollah during the attacks
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared his country ‘at war’ Saturday
Netanhayu, has been a political leader in Israel for nearly two decades. He has been serving as Prime Minister of the country since December 2022 and had previously held office from 1996 to 1999, and again from 2009 to 2021. He is the chairman of the Likud party,
On Saturday, he declared his country is now ‘at war’ with the Palestinian-group Hamas after the extremist group executed a deadly barrage of rocket attacks and sent militants into Israeli areas.
There has been a decades- long running conflict between Israel and Palestine. Netanyahu launched airstrikes in Gaza, vowing to inflict an ‘unprecedented price.’
Early Saturday, the prime minister spoke of the attack and their execution on X, formerly Twitter.
‘Since this morning, the State of Israel has been at war. Our first objective is to clear out the hostile forces that infiltrated our territory and restore the security and quiet to the communities that have been attacked.’
The prime minister added, ‘The second objective, at the same time, is to exact an immense price from the enemy, within the Gaza Strip as well. The third objective is to reinforce other fronts so that nobody should mistakenly join this war.’
At least 40 people in Israel have died in the horror attack, Israeli officials said. As of 3pm on Saturday, the Israeli Health Ministry reported that 908 people have been wounded and taken to Israeli hospitals, CNN reported.
In Gaza, nearly 200 are dead and more than 1,600 are injured, Palestinian health ministry said.
The Israeli 908 wounded people have been taken to Israeli hospitals, the Israeli health ministry said. Separately, at least 40 people have died in Israel, officials said earlier.
In Gaza, nearly 200 are dead and more than 1,600 are injured, Palestinian health ministry said.
The deadly attack took place on Shabbat and only hours away from the eve of Simchat Torah.
Earlier this week Jews around the world celebrated Sukkot and observed the High Holidays of Rosh Hoshana and Yom Kippur.
*This is a developing story
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