The Israeli government is initiating a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times following the publication of an opinion column by Nicholas Kristof alleging widespread Israeli sexual violence against Palestinian prisoners, which critics said used dubious sourcing and elevated conspiracy theories.

“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 … Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar have instructed the initiation of a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter also responded to the report on Monday with a video statement in which he told viewers not to “buy into” the publication’s “blood libels” and to “watch and find out who’s really behind this narrative.” 

The backlash to the piece was swift across the media landscape and Jewish community. In The Wall Street Journal, Rachel O’Donoghue described the piece as a “poorly sourced, fantastical tale.” Media analysts also noted the report leaned heavily on a Hamas-tied advocacy group and a former Palestinian prisoner who has publicly celebrated terrorism.

Despite the criticism, the Times has stood firmly behind its columnist.
“Nicholas Kristof is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has reported on sexual violence for decades,” the publication’s PR department said in a statement. “He traveled to the region to report firsthand on the stories of Palestinians who suffered abuse, and his article collects accounts in the victims’ own words, backed by independent studies.”