Ohh, Friedman Meant to Say ‘Engineered’! By Aigle Middle East • December 2011 • Views: 629 Tom Friedman thinks Jewish readers should get over it and let him come in from the cold. He’s explained to the Jewish Week’s Gary Rosenblatt that he “regrets” his choice of words in a December 13 column when he said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s standing ovations during his speech to Congress were “bought and paid for by the Israel lobby.” The ugly charge with its overtones of anti-Semitism caused a firestorm of criticism. But now we know, he only meant to say the standing ovations were “engineered” by the lobby.