Yahoo News' Michael Calderone has posted a letter Fox News' Roger Ailes sent to Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League regarding Ailes' smear of NPR executives as “Nazis.” In it, Ailes claims that “this all goes back to” the “unscrupulous” treatment he claims he received from Rabbi Steve Gutow and Simon Greer following their meeting with Ailes regarding Glenn Beck's constant invocations of Nazis and the Holocaust [emphasis added]:

This morning you might be receiving calls because I used the word “Nazi attitudes” to describe the NPR officials who fired Juan Williams. I was of course ad-libbing and should not have chosen that word, but I was angry at the time because of NPR's willingness to censor Juan Williams for not being liberal enough. I think this all goes back to the visit we received from Rabbi Steve Gutow and Simon Greer. We had a cordial conversation where they explained the sensitivity of the Jewish people and I said Glenn Beck was very sensitive to Jewish issues and would never intentionally offend them. I agreed to talk with Glenn and was certain once he understood the sensitivity on the use of the word Holocaust would handle it differently on the air. I did speak with Glenn and he responded favorably. I then offered to hold a meeting where they could talk to our editorial staff and enlighten them about that sensitivity.

You know me as a friend and many IDF warriors know me as someone who is consistently strong in the defense of the Jewish people and the state of Israel. However, the rabbis used us in an unscrupulous manner. Instead of quietly working with us to solve the problem internally, they put out a cheap press release to say Glenn Beck was out of line, Fox was out of line and they of course came in and told us what we could do. None of that happened. I was and still am insulted by their behavior. No one knows better than you how easy it is to call someone anti-Semitic and I believe you have been heroic in sorting out those instances. There are others, however, who use racism and anti-Semitism for their own political purposes.

Ailes also explained to Foxman that he doesn't “feel much guilt” over Glenn Beck's many-days long smear of George Soros, because Beck's research was deemed valid by the Fox News “Brainroom”:

I wanted to follow up on the Glenn Beck situation with regards to George Soros. I frankly don't feel much guilt because Glenn Beck only used Soros' words and our Brainroom dissected each statement and found them valid.

In reality, Beck falsely accused Soros of being a Holocaust collaborator, distorted several Soros quotes, and made repeated false claims about Soros in order to attack him as an all-powerful and dangerous “puppet master.”

Finally, Ailes apologized for using “Nazi,” writing that he should have described NPR brass as “nasty, inflexible bigot[s]”:

I'm writing this just to let you know some background but also to apologize for using “Nazi” when in my now considered opinion “nasty, inflexible bigot” would have worked better. Juan Williams is a good man and like you a friend. And my friends never have to worry about me sticking up for them -- even if I'm occasionally politically incorrect I never leave any doubts about my loyalty.