Israeli paper lays off artist for pig caricatures

A Jerusalem-based magazine has laid off a cartoonist for drawing Israel’s prime minister and Likud politicians as pig characters from George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Israel’s journalists union said yesterday.

The cartoon was meant to criticise the Israeli government’s passage of a controversial law last week enshrining the state’s Jewish character.

Critics say the ruling, which defines Israel as a Jewish state and lowers the Arabic language’s status, marginalises the country’s Arab minority.