Politico has a statement from Hearst Newspapers:
WASHINGTON, June 7, 2010 – Helen Thomas announced Monday that she is retiring, effective immediately. Her decision came after her controversial comments about Israel and the Palestinians were captured on videotape and widely disseminated on the Internet. Thomas later issued a statement: ``I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon.’’ Thomas will mark her 90th birthday on Aug. 4.
The White House Correspondents' Association released a letter this morning, prior to Thomas's retirement, stating that Thomas's comments were "indefensible" and that it would look into "whether it is appropriate for an opinion columnist to have a front row seat in the WH briefing room" at a meeting on Thursday.
June 7, 2010 Helen Thomas' comments were indefensible and the White House Correspondents Association board firmly dissociates itself from them. Many in our profession who have known Helen for years were saddened by the comments, which were especially unfortunate in light of her role as a trail blazer on the White House beat. While Helen has not been a member of the WHCA for many years, her special status in the briefing room has helped solidify her as the dean of the White House press corps so we feel the need to speak out strongly on this matter. We want to emphasize that the role of the WHCA is to represent the White House press corps in its dealings with the White House on coverage-related issues. We do not police the speech of our members or colleagues. We are not involved at all in issuing White House credentials, that is the purview ofthe White House itself. But the incident does revive the issue of whether it is appropriate for an opinion columnist to have a front row seat in the WH briefing room. That is an issue under the jurisdiction of this board. We are actively seeking input from our association members on this important matter, and we have scheduled a special meeting of the WHCA board on Thursday to decide on the seating issue. Ed Chen, Bloomberg David Jackson, USA Today Caren Bohan, Reuters Ed Henry, CNN Julie Mason, DC Examiner Don Gonyea, National Public Radio Steve Scully, C-SPAN Doug Mills, The New York Times