AFR cartoon condemned for hateful tropes

A cartoon published in the Australian Financial Review on the weekend depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu riding a missile with the face of President Donald Trump has been widely condemned by the Jewish community as a disturbing “piece of propaganda”.

Cartoonist David Rowe’s illustration shows Netanyahu conducting an oil check on the Trump-faced missile, with the caption reading: “Running on empty. Oil check.” However, the “oil” being drawn from the Trump missile is red, suggesting Netanyahu is drawing blood.

A speech bubble pointing to the mouth of the US President reads: “Torah! Torah! Torah! Or whatever.”

Next to the Israeli Prime Minister the words “oy vey” are written, while in the bottom right-hand corner a building is adorned with the words “Pearl Harbour 2026” in a not so subtle nod to President Trump’s recent Oval Office remarks.

It is understood Jewish roof bodies have fielded numerous complaints about the cartoon.

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein said the suggestion that Netanyahu is controlling President Trump in such a manner, “Risks evoking pernicious and baseless stereotypes about Israeli or Jewish influence over US decision-making.

“After the Bondi massacre, media outlets should exercise greater caution that commentary they publish does not inadvertently contribute to prejudice or misunderstanding, that might only further fan the flames of antisemitism and vilification of the Jewish community,” Rubenstein said.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin called the cartoon “odious”, which appealed to “rusted on antisemites”.

“Trump’s critics have always cast him as wholly self-centred, isolationist and in contempt of traditional allies. Until now. Suddenly he has the blood-soaked Jew steering him, coercing him to do his bidding,” Ryvchin said.

“Chanting ‘Torah’ as the Jew leads him to disaster because the Jews are our misfortune. ‘Oy vey’, the Yiddish phrase of angst. Not Hebrew, the official language of Israel, but Yiddish, the language of exiled European Jews which mockingly adorns a million neo-Nazi tweets and cartoons.

“It plays for the cheap thrills of rusted on antisemites and haters of Israel, which are increasingly difficult to tell apart.”

Rabbi Daniel Rabin said the cartoon is built on the “most classic antisemitic tropes”.

“The reality is complex, painful, and deeply serious. Reducing it to a cartoon built on age-old hatred is frankly disgusting,” he said.

“It tells us this isn’t just fringe anymore. This kind of thinking is finding legitimacy. It is being normalised. When these views are accepted, defended, or ignored, they slowly shape how people see their Jewish neighbours.”

Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich said: “It associates sacred Jewish religious text with military aggression and deception. It frames the Iran strikes as a specifically Jewish religious enterprise rather than a geopolitical one. It invokes the ‘sneak attack’ motif, reinforcing the ancient trope that Jews act through treachery and concealment.

“And the addition of ‘or whatever’ trivialises and mocks the Torah itself, reducing a foundational religious text shared by billions to a throwaway punchline.”

The AJN has contacted AFR editor-in-chief James Chessell for comment.