…only after he loses out on a multi-million dollar deal.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson has sent a letter apologizing for suggesting that Ariel Sharon’s massive stroke was divine punishment for pulling Israel out of the Gaza Strip.

Robertson’s comments drew widespread condemnation from other Christian leaders, President Bush and Israeli officials, who canceled plans to include the American evangelist in the construction of a Christian tourist center in northern Israel.

In a letter dated Wednesday and marked for hand delivery to Sharon’s son Omri, Robertson called the Israeli prime minister a “kind, gracious and gentle man” who was “carrying an almost insurmountable burden of making decisions for his nation.”

“My concern for the future safety of your nation led me to make remarks which I can now view in retrospect as inappropriate and insensitive in light of a national grief experienced because of your father’s illness,” the letter said.

“I ask your forgiveness and the forgiveness of the people of Israel,” Robertson wrote.

Emphasis mine.

I’m not sure what’s worse, the original comments or the fact that he only apologized after taking a hit to the pocketbook. You have to wonder who’s handling his image? Why not just come out and say, “I’m so sorry I lost all that money?”