Sunday Times Apologizes ‘Unreservedly’ For Cartoon

LONDON (AP) – The acting editor of Rupert Murdoch’s Sunday Times newspaper has apologized “unreservedly” for a cartoon depicting Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu building a wall using blood-red mortar. Jewish leaders said the cartoon was reminiscent of anti-Semitic propaganda, which is often blood-drenched. Anger was heightened by the timing: The cartoon was published on Holocaust Memorial Day.

Murdoch on Monday said the paper owed a “major apology” for publishing the cartoon, which shows Netanyahu wielding a long, sharp trowel and depicts agonized Palestinians bricked into the wall’s structure. His newspaper’s editor, Mark Ivens, met Tuesday with Jewish community leaders to express regret over the cartoon’s publication. He said in a statement that the cartoon was a “terrible mistake” and apologized “unreservedly” for any offense caused.