Helen Thomas, the White House reporter who resigned after calling for all Jews to "get the hell out of Palestine" has dismissed claims that she is antisemitic as “baloney”.

However the 90-year-old veteran Washington correspondent said that even after apologising for the comments she “had the same feelings about Israel's aggression and brutality.”

She told an Ohio radio station: “I hit the third rail. You cannot criticise Israel in this country and survive.”

She added: “It was very hard for the first two weeks. After that, I came out of my coma.”

Ms Thomas, Hearst Newspapers journalist and the daughter of Lebanese immigrants, caused a political storm with the remarks, made during a White House Jewish Heritage Month event in May.