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Thursday, October 30, 2014 — Today, the left-wing Haaretz newspaper in Israel published a disgraceful cartoon without caption by Amos Biderman, depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu piloting a plane, marked “ISRAEL,” into a skyscraper resembling a World Trade Center tower.

 ZOA National Chairman of the Board Dr. Michael Goldblatt has issued the following statement:

 “We are completely appalled at the Haaretz cartoon showing the Israeli Prime Minister flying a plane, bearing the name “ISRAEL,” into a U.S. skyscraper.

 “It is utterly poisonous, hysterical and wrong to suggest that disagreement between an Israeli government and the U.S. Administration — a disagreement over vital matters of peace and security, in which the democratically-elected Israeli government has every right and duty to disagree if it sees fit — is comparable to an act of evil suicide terrorism of the 9/11 variety that struck the United States 13 years ago.

 “As the ZOA detailed yesterday in a press release, the Obama Administration has a disgraceful and deeply worrying record of hostility to Israel, indulgence of Mahmoud Abbas’ anti-peace and pro-terror Palestinian Authority, and double standards associated with these biases. Yet, Haaretz sees fit to ignore all this and to publish a cartoon, not merely critical of the Israeli government, but holding the Israeli Prime Minister guilty of malice and actual aggression towards the United States.

 “It is impossible to believe that the editors of Haaretz responsible for the decision to publish this malicious cartoon could not have known that hatemongers across the world claim Israel engineered the 9/11 attacks, and promote other vicious anti-Israel lies.  Given this, it was unconscionable for an Israeli paper, no less, to play any role in demonizing Israel with falsehoods. 

 “The Haaretz editors failed miserably at their job. They have displayed an astonishing lack of judgment. They should publicly apologize immediately and remove the cartoon from their website.”