Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell has claimed he has been effectively sacked by the paper after he was accused of submitting anti-Semitic work.
The decision came after he was criticised for a cartoon showing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu preparing to operate on his own torso, which included an outline of the shape of the Gaza Strip, following the attacks by Hamas.
The Guardian refused to publish it with one staff member suggesting it was a reference to Shylock, the Jewish moneylender in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice who demands a “pound of flesh”, with one Tory MP branding the picture “deeply offensive”.
Mr Bell defended the image saying it was a reference to a 1960s cartoon of then-US President Lyndon B. Johnson with a scar on his torso shaped like the map of Vietnam.
A Guardian spokesman said: “The decision has been made not to renew Steve Bell’s contract. Steve Bell’s cartoons have been an important part of the Guardian over the past 40 years – we thank him and wish him all the best.”
It is not the first time claims of anti-Semitism have been made against the artist who came under fire three years ago after a cartoon of Sir Keir Starmer holding Jeremy Corbyn’s head on a plate was seen by some as a reference to the head of John the Baptist being presented to Salome, the daughter of the Jewish King Herod.
Mr Bell told the Morning Star “I used to do three editorial cartoons a week” for the Guardian but they had “got rid of it completely”.
He said the decision was devastating, adding: “They said they won’t publish anything more of mine even though I am on the books until April 2024.”
