Israel Readies Defamation Lawsuit Against the New York Times Over Sexual Abuse Story

The state of Israel is preparing to sue the New York Times for defamation over an op-ed by Nicholas Kristof alleging widespread sexual abuse of Palestinians in Israeli prisons.Israel’s foreign ministry on Thursday described the article as “one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel in the modern press.” It announced that Prime Minister Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar had “instructed the initiation of a defamation lawsuit” against the Times.Mr. Netanyahu released a separate statement condemning the Times for having “defamed the soldiers of Israel and perpetuated a blood libel about rape, trying to create a false symmetry between the genocidal terrorists of Hamas and Israel’s valiant soldiers.” He vowed that “under my leadership, Israel will not be silent. We will fight these lies in the court of public opinion and in the court of law. Truth will prevail.”The piece at the center of the dispute, “The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians,” was published Monday in the Times’ opinion section. It alleged “a pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children — by soldiers, settlers, interrogators in the Shin Bet internal security agency and, above all, prison guards.”The article’s credibility came under immediate challenge as media watchdog groups and commentators said that the piece relied on sources with documented histories of glorifying terrorists or records of extreme anti-Israel bias. The piece also quoted a former Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, in apparent validation of the claims — a characterization Mr. Olmert later disputed, saying his words had been taken out of context and misrepresented.Israel’s foreign ministry further alleged that the Times ran Mr. Kristof’s column with knowledge that a separate report on Hamas’s systemic sexual violence during and after the October 7 attack was set for imminent release by CNN and other outlets. The ministry said the Civil Commission had approached the Times with its findings “months ago” but was turned down. “Aware of the report and its release date, the night before its release the NYT ran a shameful attack on Israel, belittling Hamas’ sexual crimes,” the ministry wrote on X. “That tells you everything about the NYT’s agenda.”The Times has defended Mr. Kristoff’s story against the criticism, saying the details were “extensively fact-checked” through multiple sources. It has not yet responded to Israel’s announcement of a defamation lawsuit.

Israel Readies Defamation Lawsuit Against the New York Times Over Sexual Abuse Story

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