The Sunday Times, one of the foremost British newspapers and generally supportive of Israel, published in its first issue since the reelection of Netanyahu a provocative cartoon depicting him as using the blood of Palestinian children as mortar in a wall to build up Israeli defense.
The caption asks readers if the Israeli prime minister intends to continue the peace process. The cartoon shows Netanyahu as a red-nosed strongman building a wall using Palestinian blood. Many communication media throughout the world protested it for its "Der Sturmer" character, noting besides the poor taste and ill timing of its release on the International Holocaust Day.
The Sunday Times responded per request of a German paper: "This is a bigoted caricature in the style of cartoonist Gerald Scarfe. The Sunday Times is convinced that it is not anti-Semitic but directed at Netanyahu and his policies rather than against Israel and surely not against Jews."
Rupert Murdoch, the tycoon who owns the Sunday Times and many other properties including the Wall Street Journal, apologized for the cartoon, as did the acting editor of the newspaper. The cartoonist is known for drawing pictures including blood. He did not apologize for the cartoon, but did apologize for the timing, since it was published on Holocaust Remembrance Day in Britain.
