Liberman apologizes for calling PM ‘autistic’

Avigdor Liberman issues an apology for using the word “autistic” as a pejorative term to describe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Today I said on the radio that ‘anyone who thinks pulling back to the ’67 lines will resolve the conflict is autistic,'” Liberman, the former foreign minister, writes in a Facebook post.

“Of course I had no intention of insulting autistic people, but only of illustrating some peoples’ inability to accept a certain reality vis-a-vis the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” he adds. “And I apologize if anyone was offended by it.”

Liberman’s statement comes shortly after the Ruderman Family Foundation called on him to apologize.

“By using the word ‘autistic’ as an insult, MK Lieberman has deeply hurt the autism community,” the foundation, a frequent advocate for the disabled, had said in a statement. “The term for a disability should never be used in a crude and derogatory manner.”