A disgraced former Telegraph cartoonist has sparked outrage after creating an ‘antisemitic’ cartoon of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu feasting on children under the word ‘kosher.’
Dismissed from The Telegraph in 2021, Moran now independently creates and sells pieces on his website, some fetching staggering sums.
Yesterday Moran was accused of ‘blood libel’ after he self-published a cartoon showing a bloodthirsty Netanyahu flanked by Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak.
The cartoon drew sharp criticism for its parallels with the medieval blood libel, a historical accusation that Jews murdered Christian children for ritualistic purposes. The Campaign Against Antisemitism denounced the artwork and stated, "Jew, children, blood, consumption, ritual. All the ingredients for a classic blood libel."
Several of Moran's artworks have been marked as 'sold,' with one piece allegedly purchased for a whopping £75,000. Among these is the provocative painting 'Sanguis Balneum,' or Blood Bath, portraying naked world leaders engaged in explicit acts, including Benjamin Netanyahu with a Hamas terrorist. The work allegedly sold for £45,000.
Barrister David Wolfson quipped “In accordance with cartoon etiquette, shouldn’t @bobscartoons have included an acknowledgement to Thomas of Monmouth, the earliest English proponent of the blood libel?” Monmouth authored The Life and Miracle of Saint William of Norwich, the first-known blood libel accusing Jews of murdering a young Christian.
Razi Ginzberg reflected on the broader implications when he stated, "The holocaust didn’t happen out of the blue. Antisemitism needed to be so ingrained into the culture that people saw the final solution as just that—a solution, to a problem. How does antisemitism become so mainstream? This is how."
Meanwhile, Josh Howie said, “Even Nazis would’ve thought this OTT.”
Responding to the backlash, Moran defended his work, claiming on X, "I've attacked a man who removes the rights of Jewish people and subjects them to dangerous medical experiments while implementing 'papers please' policies. And people think I'm the antisemite. What a wild ride we're on."
Despite using the title ‘Kosher’, Moran claimed: “There are no Jews in that cartoon. If you think the man in the middle is a Jew, you have no understanding of the Jewish faith. Or any faith. Or basic morality.”
'Sanguis Balneum' (Bob Moran)
Moran also received accusations of antisemitism in 2022 when he depicted an octopus surrounding the world, and brandishing PPE and needles. The Media Diversity Insititute said at the time: “This artwork displays the very common antisemitic trope of an octopus controlling the world. This trope, illustrating the New World Order conspiracy narrative, represents the antisemitic theory that wealthy, Jewish men are controlling the world.”
The Telegraph sacked the cartoonist in 2021 when he said an NHS palliative care doctor “deserves to be verbally abused” for encouraging the use of masks to protect against Covid-19 on public transport. At the time, Morgan said: “I regret any distress caused by my comments… It was a mistake to send a tweet suggesting that she deserved verbal abuse and I’m sorry if she received any as a result.
“I want to make it clear that I did not target Dr Clarke in any capacity as a journalist or as an employee of Telegraph Media Group. I targeted her in my capacity as a desperate and angry father of a disabled child.”
The JC has reached out to Moran for comment.
