Haaretz Cartoon: Offensive to Israel, Offensive to the U.S.

The above is how Haaretz chose to illustrate the tensions in U.S.-Israel relations.

This cartoon by Amos Biderman is offensive on multiple levels.

• Stripped of context, it could easily have been produced on a 9/11 conspiracy site, where Israel and the Mossad are still falsely held responsible for the destruction of New York’s Twin Towers.

• It equates Israeli PM Netanyahu with Al-Qaeda terrorists.

• But ultimately, it trivializes and makes a mockery of one of the greatest catastrophes in U.S. history.

Just how low can Haaretz go?

UPDATE

In a telephone interview with The Times of Israel, cartoonist Amos Biderman explains that he truly believes that the current crisis in U.S.-Israel relations is on a par with the terrorist murder of thousands in New York:

the cartoon implied that Netanyahu was leading to “a disaster in Israel-US relations on the scale of 9/11,” pointing to the prime minister’s “arrogance” and unchecked settlement construction in retaliation for Palestinian terrorism and diplomacy alike.

HR CEO Joe Hyams comments:

While Amos Biderman has clearly lost all sense of decency, why did Haaretz feel it necessary to publish this cartoon? Haaretz deserves all of the criticism it is now receiving and owes an apology for this breathtaking lack of editorial judgment.