The New York Times on Friday said Israeli threats to file a defamation lawsuit against it over an article alleging widespread sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees by Israeli personnel and settlers is “without merit,” according to a BBC report.
The U.S. publication responded after the Israeli Foreign Ministry said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the launch of a defamation lawsuit.
It follows the publication on Monday of a column by Nicholas Kristof titled “The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians,” alleging that Palestinian detainees had been subjected to widespread sexual violence by Israeli prison guards, soldiers, settlers and interrogators.
It is not clear how, or if, such a claim by the Israeli state against the U.S. newspaper could be pursued.
Kristof said he interviewed 14 Palestinian men and women who described sexual assaults and other abuse during detention or attacks by Israeli forces and settlers.
The columnist wrote that there was "no evidence that Israeli leaders order rapes," but argued that Israeli authorities had created "a security apparatus where sexual violence has become," citing a U.N. report, one of Israel's "standard operating procedures."
The article included testimonies alleging rape with objects, beatings targeting genitals, threats of sexual violence and humiliation during imprisonment.
Kristof cited reports by organizations including Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Save the Children, B'Tselem and the Committee to Protect Journalists documenting allegations of sexual abuse and mistreatment of Palestinian detainees.
He also referenced a U.N. report published last year accusing Israel of "systematically" subjecting Palestinians to "sexualized torture."
The statement issued by Netanyahu and Gideon Saar on Thursday accused the New York Times of "one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel in the modern press".
Israel's foreign ministry alleged that the writer, Nicholas Kristof, had based his piece "on unverified sources tied to Hamas-linked networks".
In response, the New York Times issued a statement saying: "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."
