{"id":799675,"date":"2026-05-16T03:27:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T03:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/799675\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T03:27:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T03:27:30","slug":"israel-to-sue-ny-times-over-op-ed-alleging-widespread-rape-of-palestinian-prisoners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/799675\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel to sue NY Times over op-ed alleging widespread rape of Palestinian prisoners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel will sue The New York Times over an op-ed alleging widespread sexual abuse and rape against Palestinian prisoners, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar in a joint statement Thursday.<\/p>\n

They called the piece<\/a> by columnist Nicholas Kristof \u201cone of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel in the modern press.\u201d<\/p>\n

A New York Times spokesperson responded with a statement calling the threatened suit \u201cwithout merit\u201d and \u201cpart of a well-worn political playbook.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kristof\u2019s column, published Monday, alleged \u201ca pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children \u2014 by soldiers, settlers, interrogators in the Shin Bet internal security agency and, above all, prison guards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kristof quoted testimony from Palestinians who said they\u2019d been regularly stripped naked in prison and groped, forcibly penetrated with various objects, or been mounted and raped by specially trained dogs. The latter claim, circulating in anti-Israel media for some time, has recently been amplified by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, which was also a key source for Kristof\u2019s report.<\/p>\n

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\u201cToday I instructed my legal advisers to consider the harshest legal action against The New York Times and Nicholas Kristof,\u201d Netanyahu said in a later post on X.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey 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\u2019s valiant soldiers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n

Today I instructed my legal advisers to consider the harshest legal action against The New York Times and Nicholas Kristof. <\/p>\n

They defamed the soldiers of Israel and perpetuated a blood libel about rape, trying to create a false symmetry between the genocidal terrorists of Hamas\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Benjamin Netanyahu \u2013 \u05d1\u05e0\u05d9\u05de\u05d9\u05df \u05e0\u05ea\u05e0\u05d9\u05d4\u05d5 (@netanyahu) May 14, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWe will fight these lies in the court of public opinion and in the court of law. Truth will prevail,\u201d Netanyahu vowed.\n<\/p>\n

The Israel Prison Service said the allegations raised \u201care false and entirely unfounded.\u201d The Foreign Ministry denounced the article as \u201cone of the worst blood libels in modern media,\u201d while assailing its use of a report from the monitor whose leaders have been photographed alongside top Hamas officials.<\/p>\n

Danielle Rhoades Ha, a New York Times spokesperson, responded to the Netanyahu and Sa\u2019ar statement by saying the suit would not hold up in court.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Israeli Prime Minister has threatened to file a libel lawsuit against The New York Times regarding Nicholas Kristof\u2019s deeply reported opinion column on sexual abuse by Israel\u2019s prison guards, soldiers, settlers, and interrogators. This threat, similar to one made last year, is part of a well-worn political playbook that aims to undermine independent reporting and stifle journalism that does not fit a specific narrative. Any such legal claim would be without merit,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tA screenshot of a May 2026 New York Times column by Nicholas Kristof, set against the New York Times building in New York City. (Screenshot\/Angela Weiss \/ AFP via Getty Images via JTA)<\/p>\n

The ministry also alleged that the Times deliberately published Kristof\u2019s column ahead of an independent Israeli report<\/a> that found Hamas had systematically used sexual violence in the onslaught of October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza. The Foreign Ministry claimed the Times had been approached with the Israeli report \u201cmonths ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Times has repeatedly defended<\/a> the column.<\/p>\n


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