Obama jokes that Jerusalem heckler makes him feel at home

During a speech on Thursday in Jerusalem, President Barack Obama handled a heckler by saying that actually the incident had been planned in advance by his team so that he could feel at home.

The president was speaking to an audience of university students when a heckler began to shout from somewhere in the room. Talking Points Memo reported that the heckler was demanding the release of former U.S. Navy Intelligence officer Jonathan Pollard, current jailed for leaking military secrets to the Israeli government.

Obama brushed aside the interruption, saying, "You know, I have to say, we actually arranged for that, because it made me feel at home."

He added, "You know, I wouldn't feel comfortable if I didn't have at least one heckler."

Some within Israel and the U.S. are attempting to bring pressure to bear on the Obama administration to release Pollard. In a March 14 interview for Israeli television, however, President Obama said that Pollard committed "a serious crime" and that there are currently "no plans" to release him.

Obama has been heckled twice during public speeches in the U.S., once by South Carolina's Rep. Joe Wilson (R), who bellowed "You lie!" during the 2010 State of the Union Address, and again by DailyCaller.com reporter Neil Munro during a speech in the White House rose garden in June of 2012.

Watch video about this story, embedded below via Talking Points Memo: