London (CNN) -- Rupert Murdoch has apologized for a "grotesque, offensive" cartoon of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu published in Britain's Sunday Times. The cartoon by Gerald Scarfe depicts Netanyahu atop an incomplete brick wall with screaming Palestinians and body parts in the mortar. Netanyahu is holding what appears to be a bloody builder's trowel and the wall's mortar is colored red. The wording beneath reads: "Israeli Elections, Will Cementing Peace Continue?" The cartoon was published on Holocaust Memorial Day on Sunday and prompted complaints that it was anti-Semitic and insensitive. Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation, which owns The Sunday Times, used his Twitter feed to apologize, tweeting: "Gerald Scarfe has never reflected the opinions of the Sunday Times. Nevertheless, we owe major apology for grotesque, offensive cartoon."
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News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch has apologized for "grotesque" cartoon
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Sunday Times cartoon portrayed Netanyahu building Palestinians into bloody wall
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Cartoon prompted accusations of anti-Semitism and references to 'blood libel'
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Cartoonist said he was not aware it was Holocaust Memorial Day
In a statement posted on his website, @placeholder said: "First of all I am not, and never have been, anti-Semitic.
I don't think @placeholder is an idiot -- far from it.