Diplomatic relations between New Zealand and Israel have been restored after a letter from the New Zealand government expressing regret at "fallout" from a UN resolution that sparked a six-month political crisis.Longtime bile-filled editorial cartoonist Malcolm Evans responded this way:
Israel recalled its ambassador in December after New Zealand co-sponsored a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel's continued settlements. Israel condemned the resolution as a "victory for terror".
The Jerusalem Post has reported Prime Minister Bill English wrote a letter saying that he regretted "the damage done to Israel-New Zealand relations as a result of New Zealand proposing Resolution 2334 at the Security Council".
Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee confirmed diplomatic ties between the two countries had been restored.
"What the letter indicated was that New Zealand wanted to resume diplomatic relations with Israel and regretted that there'd been fallout from the co-sponsorship of the resolution," he told Morning Report.
Evans has always shown intense hatred towards Israel in his cartoons:
But he has also crossed the line into clear antisemitism:
Even if one claims that these are just anti-Zionist, his true hate of Jews is clear from this cartoon of his:
Yes, Evans says that all US Jews have no loyalty to their country and look at America as a nation of despicable "goyim" to be taken advantage of.
Not surprisingly, Evans was fired from his job at the New Zealand Herald in 2003 for his noxious views, and he responded with this conspiracy-theory fueled cartoon where he pretends to be a literal martyr.
(h/t John W)