Israeli Ambassador to Norway Raphael Schutz has demanded that the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet remove from its website a controversial cartoon featuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which some have denounced as anti-Semitic.
The paper, the sixth-largest in Norway, refused the demand to remove the image or apologize for any possible offense, arguing that the cartoon falls under the realm of freedom of expression.
The cartoon in question portrays Netanyahu posed in the shape of a swastika punching a Druze man off a bench that says "whites only."
Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, Schutz called the cartoon "an example of the most repulsive imaginable #antisemitic imagery… We demand Dagbladet to remove this sickening image and apologize!"
The cartoon was accompanied by an opinion piece critical of Israel's recently passed nation-state law, which defines Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people – a definition many of Israel's non-Jewish citizens find discriminatory.
Speaking to Israel Hayom, Deputy Ambassador to Norway Dan Poraz said: "Just as there is discourse in Israel about the nation-state law, a critical op-ed that appears in the Norwegian press is perhaps legitimate, but this anti-Semitic caricature explicitly deviates from the boundaries of legitimacy."
In the past, Dagbladet compared Israel to Nazi Germany and North Korea, while denying allegations of being anti-Semitic.
