Israel’s Netanyahu says suing New York Times over Palestinian rape article

The Israeli government has said it is taking the extraordinary step of suing The New York Times after the newspaper published an article detailing rape allegations by Palestinian detainees against Israeli forces. Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office made the announcement three days after the release of the article by longtime New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, which was based on the accounts of 14 male and female Palestinian victims. Recommended Stories list of 3 items end of list The report added to a growing body of evidence of systematic Israeli sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees, whose numbers have soared since October 7, 2023. That evidence has been documented by rights groups and media, including Al Jazeera. Israel had previously condemned The New York Times report as “blood libel”, but went further on Thursday, saying Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar “have instructed the initiation of a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times”. It further called the report “the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel in the modern press, which also received the backing of the newspaper”. For its part, The New York Times and Kristoff have stood by the article, with a spokesperson on Wednesday calling the report a “deeply reported piece of opinion journalism”. …