Jewish leaders in the US have accepted an apology by the 'Fox News' radio host Glenn Beck for comparing Reform Judaism to radical Islam. Beck had said on his show last week: “There are the Orthodox rabbis and there are the Reform rabbis. Reformed rabbis are generally political in nature. It's almost like radicalized Islam in a way where it is just - radicalized Islam is less about religion than it is about politics." After being criticized for these remarks, Beck said he was sorry and added that he had made "one of the worst analogies of all time." He delivered a special apology to Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman. "To Abe and everybody else, if I offended you it was not my intent," Beck said, noting that he often disagreed with Foxman but in this case the ADL leader had been correct. "I see how I did that and I apologize for the action and the words. Enough said."
Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, wrote a letter to Beck in which he stated: "The Reform Movement sincerely hopes this apology opens a new door of understanding and cooperation between us and helps to elevate the state of our political discourse. In that spirit, I would welcome the opportunity to meet personally to introduce you more fully to the Reform Jewish Movement, to discuss the concerns about this incident and about the concerns that many of my colleagues (...) expressed in the open letter to you regarding the repeated references to the Holocaust and Nazis, so that you may better understand the pain and confusion that language evokes."
