JERUSALEM (VINnews) – Israel’s government announced plans to file a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times over a May 11 opinion column by Nicholas Kristof that alleged widespread sexual violence against Palestinian detainees in Israeli facilities.

Following the publication by Nicholas Kristof in The New York Times of one of 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, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign…

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) May 14, 2026

The column, titled “The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians,” cited interviews with 14 former detainees who described assaults, genital beatings, threats and other abuse by Israeli guards, soldiers and interrogators. Kristof wrote that such incidents had become routine but noted no evidence of high-level orders.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry denounced the piece as “one of the worst blood libels ever to appear in the modern press,” accusing it of relying on unreliable sources while ignoring documented cases of sexual violence committed by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein confirmed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar directed the lawsuit. “Following the publication by Nicholas Kristof in The New York Times of one of 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, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar have instructed the initiation of a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times,” the ministry said in a statement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday that he has directed Israel’s legal advisers to pursue the strongest possible legal action against The New York Times and columnist Nicholas Kristof over a May 11 opinion piece alleging widespread sexual violence by Israeli prison guards, soldiers, settlers and interrogators against Palestinian detainees.

In a strongly worded statement, Netanyahu said he instructed his legal team to consider the “harshest legal action” against the newspaper and its columnist.

Today I instructed my legal advisers to consider the harshest legal action against The New York Times and Nicholas Kristof.

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…

— 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 and Israel’s valiant soldiers,” Netanyahu said. “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 New York Times defended the column as thoroughly reported and stood by Kristof’s work.

Israel and Jewish organizations have highlighted a comprehensive report on Hamas’s systematic use of rape and sexual torture on Oct. 7, released around the time of Kristof’s piece. Critics, including former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, also accused Kristof of misrepresenting comments on the issue.

Such legal action by Israel against a major international media outlet is rare and comes amid ongoing tensions over media coverage of the conflict.