B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:

In the wake of his ill-conceived and highly misguided, damaging editorial, Atlanta Jewish Times publisher and owner Andrew Adler is stepping down as publisher and will try to sell the paper after his recent editorial suggesting Israel might consider assassinating President Obama. In the piece, he also gave options for how Israel could deal with Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

B’nai B’rith International was deeply appalled by Adler’s words and hopes the swift calls for his resignation, and his subsequent announcement that he will step down, will demonstrate that such despicable and inflammatory comments should not be tolerated.

The damage inflicted on Israel and perhaps on U.S.-Israel relations is incalculable. We hope that Adler’s swift resignation will help quell any fallout from his outrageous scenario.