By JTA

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie apologized to casino magnate Sheldon Adelson for referring to the “occupied territories” in a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie – Photo: AP

Christie met with Adelson, a major GOP donor, privately on Saturday afternoon in Adelson’s Las Vegas office in the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, which hosted the RJC meeting, Politico reported, citing an unnamed source.

During his speech on Saturday, Christie spoke of his family’s trip to Israel in 2012.

“I took a helicopter ride from the occupied territories across and just felt personally how extraordinary that was to understand, the military risk that Israel faces every day,” he reportedly said.

Several news outlets reported that the crowd of Jewish Republicans at Christie’s speech noticeably gasped at Christie’s use of the loaded term.

Christie was one of several prominent Republicans to address the conference. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush spoke to a private dinner on Thursday at Adelson’s personal aircraft hangar, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Ohio Gov. John Kasich both addressed the conference on Saturday, along with Christie.

Politico reported that its unnamed source, which it called “familiar with the conversation” with Adelson, said that Christie made clear “that he misspoke when he referred to the ‘occupied territories.’ And he conveyed that he is an unwavering friend and committed supporter of Israel, and was sorry for any confusion that came across as a result of the misstatement.”

The source told Politico that Adelson accepted Christie’s explanation.

Christie said that during his trip to Israel, everyone he met wanted “America to be their unblinking, unwavering, unquestioning friend. The sense I got from my trip was that many of those folks, not all, but many of them were worried that we were no longer being that,” The Star-Ledger newspaper reported.