Hasidic Newspaper Apologizes for Editing Clinton Out of Situation Room Photo

Shown here is the edited White House photo that appeared in Der Zeitung.

A Hasidic newspaper reportedly has apologized after editing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and one other female adviser out of the iconic photo showing President Obama and his security team watching the raid on Usama bin Laden's compound last weekend

The photo of the White House Situation Room was widely published after it was released by the Obama administration a week ago. Perhaps the most enduring image in that photo was that of Clinton with her hand over her mouth.

But the version of the photo that appeared in the Brooklyn newspaper Der Zeitung, an Orthodox Jewish publication, did not show Clinton, or Audrey Tomason, director for counterterrorism, who also was in the room.

In a statement obtained by The Washington Post, Der Zeitung apologized for the alteration and said it has "conveyed our regrets and apologies" to the White House and State Department.

The newspaper explained that the editor who made the change had not seen the White House conditions for publication, which stipulated that the photo "may not be manipulated in any way."

"Our photo editor realized the significance of this historic moment, and published the picture, but in his haste he did not read the 'fine print' that accompanied the picture, forbidding any changes. We should not have published the altered picture," the newspaper said in its statement.

The statement went on to say that while Clinton has served "with great distinction," the newspaper does not publish images of women "in accord with our religious beliefs."

"Publishing a newspaper is a big responsibility, and our policies are guided by a Rabbinical Board. Because of laws of modesty, we are not allowed to publish pictures of women, and we regret if this gives an impression of disparaging to women, which is certainly never our intention," the statement said.