Israel’s Netanyahu says suing New York Times over Palestinian rape article
Summary
Israel’s government announced it plans to sue The New York Times over an article by Nicholas Kristof that reported rape allegations by Palestinian detainees against Israeli forces. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office called the article false and defamatory, while The New York Times defended its reporting as carefully fact-checked and based on multiple sources.Key Facts
- The New York Times published an article reporting 14 Palestinian detainees’ claims of sexual abuse by Israeli forces.
- Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar ordered a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times.
- Israel called the article “the most hideous and distorted lies ever published” against the state.
- The article’s author, Nicholas Kristof, said the piece was based on deep reporting and corroborated testimonies.
- The New York Times said the story was fact-checked with witnesses, family members, lawyers, human-rights groups, and UN testimony.
- It is unusual and legally complex for a foreign government to sue a U.S. media company because of U.S. free speech protections.
- Netanyahu said the lawsuit is meant to fight what he called lies, both legally and publicly, and he is facing elections later this year.
- The Times also faced criticism for publishing this piece as an opinion article while publishing other abuse allegations against Palestinians as news.
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