Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government says it will file a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times over a column by journalist Nicholas Kristof. The piece alleges widespread sexual abuse targeting Palestinian prisoners by Israeli settlers and security forces.
Netanyahu’s office called the column "one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel." The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar have ordered the initiation of a lawsuit.
The Times defended Kristof's work, calling it a "deeply reported piece of opinion journalism." A spokesperson said accounts were corroborated with witnesses, family members, and lawyers, and were extensively fact-checked.
Legal experts say the case faces significant hurdles under U.S. law. The First Amendment and the landmark New York Times v. Sullivan case protect reporting on public officials unless actual malice is proven.
Former ACLU president Nadine Strossen noted that the plaintiff would have to prove intentional or reckless falsity. Yale law professor Jed Rubenfeld gave the suit "zero chance of succeeding," citing protections for criticism of a government that does not name individuals.
President Trump recently settled a similar defamation suit against CBS News for $16 million. In 1983, Israel's Ariel Sharon sued Time Magazine over a story on a Lebanon massacre; a jury found the reporting false but not malicious.