Variety reports that at a Hollywood gathering, John Edwards said the following:

"Perhaps the greatest short-term threat to world peace," Edwards remarked, was the possibility that Israel would bomb Iran's nuclear facilities.

At Tapped, TNR alum Garance Franke-Ruta seizes upon Edwards' comments, and holds them up as further evidence of John Judis's theory that Edwards "continues to fly blind on foreign policy." Edwards says the report in inaccurate. Ezra Klein, also at Tapped, says he thinks it probably is inaccurate, as "I've heard Edwards talk about Israel dozens of times now, in response to all different sorts of audiences, and he's been vehemently pro-Israel before every single one." Like Ezra, I think reporter error is by far the most likely explanation. For one thing, I don't mean to be a snob, but the Variety antenna to nuances in foreign policy commentary may not be as finely-tuned as we would like. Second, the accusation against Edwards is that he panders to the tastes of whatever crowd he's facing, right? If that's true, why would he launch a criticism of Israel as an overwhelmingly pro-Israel venue? Update: Garance says that "in the absence of any independent corroborration either way, it's a wash and the whole story should be ignored." --Jonathan Chait