This story has been updated with the New York Times’ response, which was submitted to the Daily Signal after publication.
Israel announced it will pursue a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times following the publication of an opinion piece by columnist Nicholas Kristof that alleged Israeli forces trained dogs to rape Palestinian women.
“Today I instructed my legal advisers to consider the harshest legal action against The New York Times and Nicholas Kristof,” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on X. “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 and Israel’s valiant soldiers. 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 head of state continued.
Critics have said Hamas has engaged in a propaganda war intended to “provoke outrage, shift public opinion, and pressure Israel through foreign governments and media.”
Danger of Defamation in Media Reporting
The Israeli Foreign Ministry did not respond to The Daily Signal’s requests for comment.
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The dispute comes amid heightened tensions following Israel’s military campaign against Hamas and Hezbollah after Hamas terrorists killed, raped, and or tortured over 1,000 Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, 2023.
The American Jewish Committee has reported a 400% increase in antisemitic incidents in the United States since the attacks.
While The New York Times has not directly responded to Israel’s legal threat, the newspaper defended Kristof’s column on X after Israeli officials described the essay as “blood libel.”
In a statement, the outlet said the op-ed “draws together on-the-record accounts and cites several analyses documenting the practice of sexual violence and abuse conducted by various parts of Israel’s security forces and settlers.”
The paper added that the “deeply reported piece of opinion journalism” begins with Kristof’s assertion that “whatever our views of the Middle East conflict, we should be able to unite in condemning rape.”
“The accounts of the 14 men and women he interviewed were corroborated with other witnesses, whenever possible, and with people the victims confided in—including family members and lawyers,” the statement said. “Details were extensively fact-checked, with accounts further cross-referenced with news reporting, independent research from human-rights groups, surveys, and in one case, with U.N. testimony.”
The United Nations has acknowledged that Hamas committed acts of sexual violence during the Oct. 7 attack and released a report describing bodies with “genital injuries” found near the Nova Music Festival, which was overrun by Hamas terrorists. The U.N. has not formally condemned Hamas for those acts.
American politicians and commentators have sharply criticized the op-ed.
“Claiming Israel trains dogs to rape Palestinians is modern-day blood libel—propaganda pushed as more horrific details emerge about Hamas’ systematic torture on Oct. 7,” former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley wrote on X. “Distracting from these atrocities and smearing Israel while victims still fight for acknowledgment is sickening.”
Political commentator David Collier, who has more than 270,000 followers on X, accused major news outlets of amplifying Hamas propaganda.
“Since Oct. 7, Western media sources like @nytimes have become Hamas propaganda agents—dressing up Hamas lies as ‘investigative pieces’—and helping to fuel hatred of Israel and violent antisemitism around the world,” Collier wrote. “Seems like Israel has had enough.”
Who Is Nicholas Kristof?
Nicholas Kristof is a longtime New York Times columnist and self-described liberal or progressive commentator known for his focus on human rights, poverty, and social justice. A frequent CNN contributor, Kristof has won two Pulitzer Prizes for commentary.
In 2022, Kristof attempted to run for governor of Oregon as a Democrat but was disqualified by the state Supreme Court, which ruled he did not meet the state’s three-year residency requirement.
Following the ruling, Kristof said he planned to remain politically engaged, writing that he would “keep fighting” on issues, including homelessness and mental health.
“I want to be clear that I’m not going anywhere,” Kristof said.
New York Times’ Rebuttal
A spokesperson for the New York Times told the Daily Signal that “the Israeli Prime Minister has threatened to file a libel lawsuit against The New York Times regarding Nicholas Kristof’s deeply reported opinion column on sexual abuse by Israel’s 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,” she continued.
The spokeswoman pointed out that “Nick’s column starts with a proposition to readers: ‘Whatever our views of the Middle East conflict, we should be able to unite in condemning rape.’ Nick writes about the brutal sexual assaults against Israeli women during the Hamas-led attack on Israel.”
“He then chronicles 14 on-the-record victim accounts and cites eight independent human rights reports documenting the practice of sexual violence and abuse conducted by various parts of Israel’s security forces and settlers,” she added. “Nick has covered sexual violence for decades, and is widely regarded as one of the world’s best on-the-ground journalists in documenting and bearing witness to sexual abuse experienced by women and men in war and conflict zones.”
The NYT spokesperson concluded: “The accounts of the men and women he interviewed were corroborated with witnesses, whenever possible, and with people the victims confided in, including family members and lawyers. Details were extensively fact-checked, with accounts further cross-referenced with news reporting, independent research from human-rights groups, surveys and in one case, with U.N. testimony. Independent experts were consulted on the assertions in the piece throughout reporting and fact-checking.”
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