Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to sue The New York Times and journalist Nicholas Kristof over the incendiary column that accused Israeli security services of routinely perpetrating ghastly sexual assaults on Palestinian prisoners. “They defamed the soldiers of Israel and perpetuated a blood libel about rape,” Netanyahu wrote on X on Thursday, “trying to create a false symmetry between the genocidal terrorists of Hamas and Israel’s valiant soldiers.”
Kristof’s column has received ferocious criticism since it was published Monday. Many have denounced it for relying on anonymous sources and individuals with known Hamas affiliations. Some say that Kristof’s allegations of rape by canine are physically impossible. Others have pointed out that in 2014, Kristof acknowledged that he may have been “hoodwinked” when he reported about a Cambodian sex-trafficking victim whose story was apparently fictitious. The Times, however, has staunchly defended the column, calling it “deeply reported” and “extensively fact-checked.”
I’m not going to comment here on the merits of Kristof’s reporting or the criticism directed against it. This piece is solely about the law. Does Israel have a serious libel claim against Kristof and the Times?
