The state of Israel will sue American outlet The New York Times over an op-ed alleging widespread sexual abuse and rape against Palestinian prisoners, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced in a joint statement on Thursday.
The two Israeli politicians described the piece by columnist Nicholas Kristof as ‘one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel’ in the modern press. Later, in a post on X, Netanyahu announced that he had instructed his legal advisers to consider the ‘harshest legal action’ against both the outlet and the author.
Today I instructed my legal advisers to consider the harshest legal action against The New York Times and Nicholas Kristof.
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) May 14, 2026
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…
Kristof’s column, published on Monday, 11 May, alleged a ‘pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children—by soldiers, settlers, interrogators in the Shin Bet internal security agency and, above all, prison guards,’ according to The Times of Israel.
The author quoted testimony from Palestinians who claimed they had been regularly stripped naked in prison and groped, forcibly penetrated with various objects, or mounted and raped by specially trained dogs. The latter allegation, The Times of Israel noted, has circulated in anti-Israel media for some time and was recently amplified by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, one of the main sources cited in Kristof’s report.
‘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,’ Netanyahu wrote in the aforementioned post. The prime minister added that Israel ‘will fight lies in the court of public opinion and in the court of law.’ ‘Truth will prevail,’ he concluded.
Reacting to the allegations, the Israel Prison Service dismissed them as ‘false and entirely unfounded’. The Foreign Ministry similarly denounced the article as ‘one of the worst blood libels in modern media’, while also alleging that the American outlet deliberately published Kristof’s column ahead of an ‘independent Israeli report’ concluding that Hamas systematically used sexual violence during the 7 October 2023 attacks.
According to the ministry, The New York Times had been approached with the report months earlier.
— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) May 14, 2026
A spokesperson for the outlet, Danielle Rhoades Ha, responded to Netanyahu’s statement by arguing that any lawsuit would fail in court.
‘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,’ the statement read.
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