New York Times defends journalist after Israel threatens to sue

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. New York Times defends journalist after Israel threatens to sue15 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleRaffi BergReutersIsrael's prime minister and foreign minister accused the New York Times of "hideous and distorted lies"The New York Times has said libel action threatened against it by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over an article alleging sexual assaults against Palestinian detainees by Israeli security services is "without merit". It responded after Netanyahu and his foreign minister issued a statement saying they had ordered the "initiation of a defamation lawsuit". It follows the publication on Monday of the article which claimed there was "a pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children" carried out by soldiers, settlers, interrogators and prison guards.

It is not clear how, or if, such a claim by the Israeli state against the US newspaper could be pursued. Warning: This story contains descriptions of sexual violenceThe 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".

The Details

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.

"There has been a furious reaction to the New York Times article among Israeli politicians and media. Israel's ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, posted a video statement in which he said "the only clear crime on display here is the violation of journalistic standards by Mr Kristof and his paper". On Thursday, scores of Jewish protesters demonstrated outside the office of the New York Times in Manhattan, calling for Kristof to be fired.

In his 3,700-word article, headlined The Silence that Meets the Rape of Palestinians, Kristof wrote that "there is no evidence that Israeli leaders order rapes. But in recent years they have built a security apparatus where sexual violence has become, as a United Nations report put it last year, one of Israel's 'standard operating procedures' and 'a major element in the ill treatment of Palestinians'. "Kristof said his reporting was "based on conversations with 14 men and women who said they had been sexually assaulted by Israeli settlers or members of the security forces".

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.