Israel will take legal action against The New York Times over a column penned by Nicholas Kristof, which included allegations of serious sexual abuse of Palestinians in Israeli prisons, the Prime Minister's Office said in a Thursday statement.
The PMO, which referred to the accusation as "one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar instructed officials to begin preparing a defamation lawsuit against the publication.
Netanyahu has previously accused international outlets of amplifying false claims about Israel’s conduct in Gaza, telling foreign media in August that “Hamas lies” were being repeated abroad.
The planned lawsuit would focus on whether statements in the article crossed the legal threshold from opinion or criticism into actionable defamation. It was not immediately clear where the lawsuit would be filed, what damages would be sought, or whether Israeli state institutions or individual officials would be listed as plaintiffs.
On Wednesday, the New York Times issued a statement affirming its support for Kristof's controversial op-ed, saying he "draws together on-the-record accounts and cites several analyses documenting...
PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar instructed officials to prepare a defamation lawsuit against "one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published" on Israel. Israel wi...