The Guardian newspaper has fired longtime editorial cartoonist Steve Bell after refusing to run a caricature of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that critics said drew on antisemitic imagery.

"The decision has been made not to renew Steve Bell's contract," the Guardian said.

"Steve Bell's cartoons have been an important part of the Guardian over the past 40 years — we thank him and wish him all the best," publisher Guardian News and Media said in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Thursday.

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Bell has contributed to The Guardian since 1983. Several of his hundreds of cartoons over the years have been accused of including anti-Jewish stereotypes. The latest cartoon, posted by Bell on social media, shows Netanyahu holding a scalpel and preparing to cut a Gaza-shaped incision in his abdomen, with the caption "Residents of Gaza, get out now."

It is labeled "after David Levine" and recalls a Vietnam War-era cartoon depicting U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson pointing at a Vietnam-shaped scar. American illustrator Levine drew inspiration from a photo of Johnson showing reporters his scar from gall-bladder surgery.

Bell said he had been accused of evoking the "pound of flesh" demanded by the Jewish character Shylock in Shakespeare's play "The Merchant of Venice."

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He told industry newspaper the Press Gazette that "The Merchant of Venice" had "nothing to do with the cartoon."

"I don't promote harmful antisemitic stereotypes. … Never have I done such a thing, I would not dream of doing such a thing," the publication quoted him as saying.

Britain has a long tradition of cartoons showing politicians in exaggerated and grotesque form. Bell has created some of the most indelible caricatures of recent British leaders, portraying former Prime Minister John Major wearing underpants over his trousers, Tony Blair with a demonic oversized eye and David Cameron with a condom over his head.

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