Murdoch apologises for 'grotesque' Israel cartoon

LONDON (AFP) - Rupert Murdoch apologised on Monday for a "grotesque" cartoon carried in one of his British newspapers showing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu building a wall with Palestinian bodies.

The acting editor of the Sunday Times newspaper, Martin Ivens, is due to meet with members of the Jewish community in Britain on Tuesday to apologise in person after they made a formal complaint about the image to media regulators.

"Gerald Scarfe has never reflected the opinions of the Sunday Times. Nevertheless, we owe major apology for grotesque, offensive cartoon," Mr Murdoch, who owns the Sunday Times and its daily sister paper the Times, said on Twitter.

His comments came after the image in Sunday's newspaper sparked condemnation in Britain and Israel, particularly because of its timing, appearing on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The cartoon shows a scowling Netanyahu waving a blood-covered trowel, laying bricks in a wall in which Palestinian men, women and children are trapped. Underneath are the words, "Israeli elections - will cementing peace continue?"