For possibly offending Jews by a joke he told last week in a speech, U. S. National Security Adviser James Jones apologized on Monday.

Jones said in a statement, "I wish I had not made this off-the-cuff joke at the top of my remarks. I apologize to anyone who was offended by it."

The New York Times has reported that to kick off a speech Wednesday before the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Jones told a lengthy joke involving a Taliban fighter being tricked by a Jewish merchant in Afghanistan. The joke got a laugh but several conservatives and some Web sites in Israel questioned whether it was in good taste.

He understood some inquiries were made and "as (Jones) said, he wishes he hadn't told the joke," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said during his media briefing on Monday, when asked what led to the decision to apologize.

He thought the text was published as it was to be delivered, Gibbs said, when asked why the joke wasn't included in the official transcript of Jones's speech.

Gibbs said, "It was obviously an on-camera speech. There was no attempt to deceive." (With Inputs from Agencies)