Portuguese artist António Moreira Antunes (pictured) has dismissed outrage over his 'anti-Semitic' image that was published in the New York Times international edition

The cartoonist who drew an anti-Semitic image that was inadvertently published in The New York Times international edition last week has dismissed the outrage over the drawing as a misunderstanding 'made through the Jewish propaganda machine.'

Portuguese artist António Moreira Antunes, who has been drawing political cartons for 45 years, recently penned an image that he said was critical of the political relationship between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and not a comment on religion.

The image showed Trump as a blind man wearing a yarmulke, being led by Netanyahu depicted as a seeing-eye dog on a leash, with a Star of David hanging from his neck.

It was published in the international edition on April 25, prompting criticism that the drawing resembled Nazi propaganda, and according to Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, played on 'stereotypes that suggest Jewish control.'

Defending his cartoon in an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Antunes claimed any outrage is the result of a misunderstanding 'made through the Jewish propaganda machine, which is, anytime there's criticism it's because there's someone anti-Semitic on the other side, and that's not the case.'

A longstanding anti-Semitic trope is that Jewish people control the media.

Portuguese artist António Moreira Antunes, who has been drawing political cartons for 45 years, recently drew an image that he said was meant to criticize the political relationship between President Donald Trump (right) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) independent of religious connotation, though it featured religious symbols. The image showed Trump as a blind man wearing a yarmulke, being led by Netanyahu depicted as a seeing-eye dog on a leash, with a Star of David hanging from his neck

The New York Times on Saturday said it deleted an anti-Semitic cartoon which depicts a blind President Trump with a Jewish skullcap being led by a 'guide dog,' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Antunes went on to say that he has the 'utmost respect' for the past of Jewish people, referring to the horrors they endured during the Holocaust, but qualified that statement by adding that that past does not mean Jewish people are 'above criticism.'

'The Jewish right doesn't want to be criticized, and therefore, when criticized they say, "We are a persecuted people, we suffered a lot... this is anti-Semitism,"' he said.

Protesters outside the Times' offices in New York City on Monday disagreed with Antunes characterization of the issue.

Antunes said, 'The Jewish right doesn't want to be criticized, and therefore, when criticized they say "We are a persecuted people, we suffered a lot... this is anti-Semitism,"' he said. Protesters outside the Times' offices in New York City on Monday disagreed with Antunes characterization of the issue. A protester is shown outside the Times' office in New York City on Monday

The cartoon evoked memories of 'a very dark time in Jewish history,' lawyer Alan Dershowitz said at the protest. 'I ask myself, how could it have happened?' Protesters are shown outside the New York Times' New York City office on Monday

The cartoon evoked memories of 'a very dark time in Jewish history,' lawyer Alan Dershowitz said at the protest. 'I ask myself, how could it have happened?'

The Times, itself, labeled the cartoon anti-Semitic and eventually apologized for its publication in the international Opinions section, claiming it was thoughtlessly selected from a licensing service by a single editor to fill space in one of last week's international editions and was published without additional oversight.

The international Opinion section reports up to editorial page editor James Bennet.

The Times, itself, labeled the cartoon anti-Semitic and eventually apologized for its publication, with publisher A.G. Sulzberger (left) claiming it was thoughtlessly selected from a licensing service by a single editor to fill space in one of last week's international editions and was published in the international Opinion section without additional oversight. The international Opinion section reports up to editorial page editor James Bennet (right)

'Our journalists work hard every day to help people understand a vast and diverse world and ensure prejudices of any kind do not make it into our report,' Times' publisher A.G. Sulzberger told employees in an internal memo this week.

'Though I've been assured there was no malice involved in this mistake, we fell far short of our standards and values in this case.'

Antunes took issue with the Times' condemnation of his cartoon.

'They should see that here it's a political issue and not religious,' he said. The cartoonist added that the idea that 'any criticism of Israel is anti-Semitism' should not be accepted and that it was intended as a criticism of the Trump administration's perceived pro-Israel bias.

Palestinian leaders have said Trump cannot be an honest broker for peace after he broke with long-standing U.S. policy and recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017 and moved the American embassy to the city last May.

Trump also established a precedent by recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau that Israel captured from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War.

Antunes did not address the reasoning behind his decision to draw Trump wearing a yarmulke, which is a skullcap worn in public by men of the Orthodox Jewish faith, as well as men of other Jewish sects during prayer and religious ceremonies.

Sulzberger said in a statement both on Sunday and again on Wednesday, 'This imagery is always dangerous and has grown more so at a moment when anti-Semitism is on the rise around the world.'

He added: 'We also committed to making changes to prevent something like this from happening again.'

Sulzberger said the Times has canceled its contract with CartoonArts syndication service, the licensing service from which Antunes drawing was selected for print last week.