New York Times ‘deeply sorry’ for anti-Semitic cartoon of Netanyahu and Trump
Image included in paper’s international edition shows Israeli PM as a dog, guiding a skullcap-wearing US president
The New York Times on Sunday apologized for publishing an anti-Semitic caricature of US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, attributing the misstep to a lack of oversight and vowing to revamp its editorial process.
The image included in Thursday’s international print edition showed Netanyahu as a guide dog wearing a Star of David on his collar, leading a blind Trump, seen wearing a skullcap.
On Saturday, the New York Times acknowledged that publishing the caricature in its international edition “included anti-Semitic tropes,” and called its use an “error of judgment.” The paper did not explicitly apologize at that stage for carrying the cartoon.
On Sunday, however, the Times Opinion department said it was “deeply sorry” for the incident.
“We are deeply sorry for the publication of an anti-Semitic political cartoon last Thursday in the print edition of The New York Times that circulates outside of the United States and we are committed to making sure nothing like this happens again,” the paper said in a statement.
“Such imagery is always dangerous, and at a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise worldwide, it’s all the more unacceptable,” it said.
We apologize for the anti-Semitic cartoon we published. Here’s our statement. pic.twitter.com/nifZahutpO
— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) April 28, 2019
“We have investigated how this happened and learned that, because of a faulty process, a single editor working without adequate oversight downloaded the syndicated cartoon and made the decision to include it on the Opinion page. The matter remains under review, and we are evaluating our internal processes and training. We anticipate significant changes.”
The cartoon was condemned by US Vice President Mike Pence and a top Likud minister.
An Editors' Note to appear in Monday’s international edition. pic.twitter.com/1rl2vXoTB3
— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) April 27, 2019
Israel’s Channel 13 news reported Saturday night that Danny Dayan, Israel’s consul-general in New York, had protested to the newspaper about the cartoon.
ADL chief Jonathan Greenblatt told The Times of Israel on Saturday that he planned on protesting the cartoon to the newspaper. He called it “anti-Semitic propaganda of the most vile sort.”
