Toronto MP Mark Adler said he was just joking when he was caught on tape asking to join Prime Minister Stephen Harper for a “million dollar shot” at Jerusalem’s Western Wall.

“You guys don’t get a joke, huh?” he told reporters accompanying the Canadian delegation in Israel. “It’s all said tongue-in-cheek… Tongue-in-cheek, guys, come on.”

Adler, MP for York Centre, which is home to 21,000 Jews, was at the Wall behind a barricade when he asked one of Harper’s aides to allow him to join the prime minister at the Wall.

“It’s the re-election. This is the million-dollar shot,” he was heard saying of camera as Harper approached the Kotel.

He was turned down.

Adler later tweeted two comments about the visit to the Wall.

“Incredible experience at the #WesternWall – one of the most important sites for Jewish people in Canada and around the world. #Israel,” he wrote on his Twitter account.

“Leaving the Kotel in Jerusalem with @pmharper and the Canadian delegation. #WesternWall #HistoricVisit #Israel,” he stated in another tweet.