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Veteran White House corespondent Helen Thomas announced Monday that she will retire after a video surfaced this weekend showing the 89 year old reporter stating that the Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine."

The video, recorded on a hand-held camera by a Rabbi following a Jewish Heritage event at the White House late May, garnered significant backlash. Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer called for Thomas' employer, the Hearst Corporation, to fire the reporter and current Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called the remarks "offensive and reprehensible."

Thomas issued an apology after the video was released, saying that her remarks do not reflect her “heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance.”

"I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians," Thomas said.

Thomas, who started covering the White House during the final years of the Eisenhower administration, was the longest serving reporter in the press corps and commanded a seat in the center of the briefing room's front row. She will be ninety in August.