French Canadian Newspaper Issues Apology for Antisemitic Caricature of Netanyahu

The French Canadian newspaper that published a crudely antisemitic caricature of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday has issued an apology and confirmed that the offending image has been removed from all its platforms.

In a note to readers published on Thursday, Stéphanie Grammond — the chief editorial writer of the Montreal-based La Presse — offered her “apologies to anyone who was offended” while insisting that the cartoon “was intended to be a criticism of Mr. Netanyahu’s policies. It targeted the Israeli government, not the Jewish people.”

The image, drawn by veteran cartoonist Serge Chapleau, showed Netanyahu as Nosferatu, the titular character of a 1922 German silent movie about a blood-sucking vampire.

Chapleau’s cartoon imposed Netanyahu’s features on that of a vampire wearing a grim, lifeless expression, with his hands replaced by long claws. An accompanying text displayed the word “Nosfenyahou” — a contraction of “Nosferatu” and the Francophone spelling of Netanyahu’s last name — dripping with blood. Another text beneath declared “On the way to Rafah,” the city in Gaza where Israeli troops have been battling Hamas terrorists.

Grammond remarked that the depiction of Netanyahu as Noseferatu was “unfortunate” as the character “was used in Nazi propaganda during the Second World War, as readers pointed out to us after publication.”

While Chapleau has made no comment since the scandal erupted on Wednesday, Grammond assured readers that he “never intended to convey anti-Semitic remarks or harmful stereotypes.”

“La Presse has already loudly denounced the deplorable rise in antisemitism since the start of the war [in Gaza], in Quebec as elsewhere in the world,” she continued. “Today we reiterate the importance of combating hatred against the Jewish people.”

The cartoon was loudly condemned by Canadian politicians including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “It is unacceptable to bring back antisemitic tropes and allusions like that. It is distasteful and exactly the wrong thing to do, particularly in these times,” Trudeau said. “It’s a good thing that it was pulled, it’s a good thing that they’ve apologized. But it should never have happened in the first place.”