‘Greek newspaper Ta Nea prints antisemitic caricature of former finance minister. Photo: Screenshot

The head of the Greek Jewish community, Moses Constantinis, deplored on Sunday a cartoon of the country’s former finance minister depicting him as a Jewish money lender and published by the Athens daily Ta Nea.

“We consider the use of religious racist stereotypes to stigmatize current events as not only unacceptable and despicable, but especially dangerous, as it refers to religious hatred and perpetuates prejudices that should not have a place in today’s society,” read the letter, which was published on the Greek Central Board of Jewish Communities website.

In the cartoon, a caricature of former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis is seen wearing a skullcap and fondling some gold coins, with sacks of change and a scale on his desk.

According to antisemitism watchdog blog, The New Antisemite, the cartoon was published in response to recent backlash against Varoufakis over interviews conducted in Italy and Signapore that paid him upwards of $31,000 since he left office. Some Greek officials called it “extremely serious and unprecedented,” according to another Greek newspaper, Kethimarini.

The former Greek finance minister resigned earlier this year after the the Greek bailout referendum.