Quebec newspaper La Presse has taken down a cartoon showing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu depicted as the vampire from the film “Nosferatu” after facing criticism for using antisemitic imagery.
The cartoon, which was published online on Wednesday morning, showed Netanyahu with pointed ears and long sharp fingers, reminiscent of a scene from the 1922 silent film where the vampire Count Orlok hides on a ship in pursuit of his human prey.
The text over the cartoon labeled the caricature as “Nosfenyahou” on his way to the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
Several commentators and politicians condemned the image for using antisemitic tropes, with some pointing out the film's associations with Nazi propaganda and historical depictions of Jewish people as vampires.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs stated on X, formerly Twitter, that cartoons like the one published in La Presse contribute to normalizing antisemitism.
La Presse chief editorialist Stéphanie Grammond apologized for the cartoon on behalf of the paper in a statement posted online this afternoon, expressing that it was never their intent to promote harmful stereotypes.
