In a new Facebook post regarding his controversial tweets about Jews and Israel, Suwanee City Council candidate Joe Briggs apologized "for this situation" and said he "deeply regret[s]" the manner in which he "expressed some of my views."

Briggs has denied being anti-Semitic, calling the tweets that were recently brought to light — which compared Jews to Nazis and called Zionists “cockroaches,” among other things — a reflection of his distaste for the actions of the Israeli government and not Jewish people in general. He has said he is not racist.

Suwanee's city election will be held Tuesday. Briggs, a 59-year-old engineer, is challenging incumbent councilmember Beth Hilscher.