The Israeli government announced that it is moving forward with a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times following the publication of a opinion piece by Nicholas Kristof alleging widespread “abuse” of Palestinian detainees by Israeli forces and settlers.
According to a joint statement issued by the offices of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, the two leaders instructed officials to initiate legal proceedings after what they described as “one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel in the modern press.”
The report, published Monday as an opinion column by Kristof, cited “testimonies” from 14 Palestinians who claimed they were subjected to “assault” by Israeli soldiers, “settlers”, Shin Bet interrogators, and prison guards.
Kristof’s piece described what it called “a pattern of widespread Israeli “violence” against men, women and even children.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry sharply rejected the allegations, accusing Kristof of relying on “unverified sources tied to Hamas-linked networks.”
Officials also claimed the timing of the article’s publication was deliberate and intended to overshadow the release of an independent Israeli report detailing acts of rape committed by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 massacre.
YWN NOTE: This article has been censored for our readership using the word “abuse” while omitting obvious other words not appropriate for YWN.
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3 Responses
The major issue the NYT and Israel will fight over in the courts will have nothing to do with whether what was written in the article is defamation. It will be the legal question of whether a country can sue for defamation of character which is a novel idea and will be at the heart of case and can drag on for years, long after people have forgotten about that piece by the NYT.
עיקר חסר מן הספר. The story doesn’t say in which country’s courts the suit will be filed, and thus under which country’s laws. Such a suit is impossible under US law, so the only sensible interpretation is that the Israeli government will sue the NYT in an Israeli court, under Israeli law. But the story should say so.
NotPoshut, under US law there is no question. Sovereign nations can’t sue for defamation. But under Israeli law they probably can.