Israeli Minister: Whoever Published NY Times ‘Nazi Propaganda’ Cartoon Must Be Fired

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan says whoever was responsible for the anti-Semitic cartoon’s publication should be fired.

By United with Israel Staff

Israel’s outgoing Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan has compared a New York Times caricature published in its international edition with “Nazi propaganda from the period of the Holocaust” and says that whoever is responsible for its publication should be fired.

The cartoon in question, published on Thursday, portrays Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a dog, with the Jewish Star of David symbol dangling from his collar. Netanyahu’s leash is held by US President Donald Trump, who is depicted as a blind man wearing a skullcap.

On Saturday, the newspaper tweeted an acknowledgment that the cartoon contained “anti-Semitic tropes” and deleted it. However, it did not unequivocally apologize.

“The New York Times cartoon is outrageous and reminiscent of Nazi propaganda from the period of the Holocaust,” Erdan tweeted.

“It is expected of anyone who is really fighting racism and Jew-hatred to demand of the newspaper to apologize and fire whoever was responsible for the publication of a Nazi-style cartoon in the newspaper,” he added.

Erdan compares the Times cartoon to one that appeared in Lustige Blätter, a German satirical magazine which, during the Nazi era, frequently featured anti-Semitic caricatures and illustrations that also targeted enemies of Germany, such as Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt. The cartoon, published in 1940, includes the caption: “England’s leadership is in good hands,” and shows a stereotypical-looking Jew leading Churchill.

The Times has tweeted that “an Editors’ Note [is] to appear in Monday’s international edition.”