Israel paper fires cartoonist who made Netanyahu a pig

An Israeli cartoonist was fired last week after he depicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a pig in one of his illustrations.

Avi Katz parodied a picture in which Netanyahu and his allies were taking a congratulatory selfie after the passing of the racist “nation state bill” on 19 July, with a depiction of characters from George Orwell’s “Animal Farm“. The law declares that only Jews have the right of self-determination in the country and strips Arabic of its designation as an official language alongside Hebrew, downgrading it to a “special status” that enables its continued use within Israeli institutions.

“All animals are equal. But some are more equal than others,” the cartoon quoted from the book, which tells the story of farm animals revolting against their human owners but swiftly falling into authoritarianism.

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Following the publication of the cartoon, the Jerusalem Post, which owns the magazine in which the cartoon was run, said it would no longer be working with Katz.

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“Avi Katz is a cartoonist who worked as a freelancer at the Jerusalem Post and in accordance with editorial considerations, it was decided not to continue the relationship with him,” it said in a statement, according to the Times of Israel.

Katz told the Guardian he “thought the cartoon was relatively mild and my firing was idiotic, but I’m delighted to see the enormous support I’ve received over the last couple of days.”