Cartoonist Steve Bell said he will “not apologise” for his artwork depicting the Israeli prime minister after The Guardian said it has decided not to renew his contract.
His sketch of Benjamin Netanyahu was “spiked” by the newspaper, according to Mr Bell, in the wake of Hamas’s attack on Israel.
The image shows Mr Netanyahu wearing boxing gloves and preparing to operate on his own stomach, on which an outline of the Gaza Strip can be seen, and the caption “Residents of Gaza, get out now”.
Mr Bell told the Press Gazette: “I’m not going to apologise for the image… I think it’s a good one. I think it works.”
The cartoonist, who spent more than 40 years making images for The Guardian, said that when making a sketch there is an expectation of a “certain amount of negative response” and it is “always best to think through, and stick to, your argument”.
“There’s no point apologising if you feel you’ve offended someone,” he added.
In a series of tweets, Mr Bell said after submitting the cartoon he received a “strangely cryptic message” during a phone call with Guardian staff referencing a “pound of flesh”.
He told the trade magazine Shakespeare’s The Merchant Of Venice, which features Shylock, the Jewish moneylender, using a similar phrase, has “nothing to do with the cartoon”.
Mr Bell said the sketch is “an argument against a particular politician” and a reference to Rembrandt’s The Anatomy Lesson Of Dr Deijman – an image by the Dutch artist which shows a surgeon operating on an offender.
Just to explain. I filed this cartoon around 11am, possibly my earliest ever. Four hours later, on a train to Liverpool I received an ominous phone call from the desk with the strangely cryptic message "pound of flesh"... pic.twitter.com/kSfmfzlmhy
— Steve Bell (@BellBelltoons) October 9, 2023
The former Guardian artist’s sketch also has a reference to American cartoonist David Levine, who created an image of President Lyndon B Johnson in 1966 looking at a scar on his stomach in the form of a map of Vietnam, as another caption on the image.
Mr Bell said: “I don’t promote harmful antisemitic stereotypes… Never have I done such a thing, I would not dream of doing such a thing.”
He also spoke about determining whether a cartoon is antisemitic as being about whether it “invokes hatred against Jews”.
In November 2012, The Guardian’s readers editor Chris Elliott said an image by Mr Bell of Mr Netanyahu, depicted as a puppet master controlling former Tory leader William Hague and former prime minister Tony Blair echoed “past antisemitic usage of such imagery, no matter the intent”.
A cartoon, also featuring Mr Netanyahu, former PM Theresa May and Razan al-Najjar – a Palestinian nurse killed during protests in Gaza in 2018 – was spiked over similar concerns, Mr Bell said.
In April, The Guardian and cartoonist Martin Rowson apologised after publishing a cartoon of former BBC chairman Richard Sharp that was described as “antisemitic”.
Mr Bell also told the Press Gazette his relationship with The Guardian was “a bit strained” after editorial control became “more and more petty”.
He said a new way of submitting cartoon ideas to the editor at 10am would mean him getting up at 2am.
Mr Bell said “the powers that be are very incommunicative” and instead issued “diktats”.
He was sacked by email by Guardian editor Katharine Viner, Mr Bell added as he said he could get opportunities elsewhere due to being viewed as not “so close” to the newspaper.
A spokesperson for Guardian News and Media declined to comment on Mr Bell’s remarks.
On Monday, a statement from the organisation 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.”
