Israel is preparing legal action against The New York Times following an exposé that alleges systematic sexual torture of Palestinian prisoners by Israeli authorities.
The report, authored by Opinion columnist Nicholas Kristof, details graphic accounts of extreme cruelty including genital mutilation and the use of dogs for sexual assaults. Such a lawsuit would face significant hurdles in U.S. courts due to constitutional protections against foreign defamation judgments. Federal law generally prohibits recognizing defamation rulings from foreign jurisdictions.
The exposé was published one day before The New York Times republished an official Israeli report documenting Hamas’ sexual violence and torture of Israeli prisoners during and after the October 7, 2023 attacks.
According to Palestinian accounts shared with Kristof, Israeli forces including soldiers, settlers, Shin Bet agents, and prison guards committed sexual violence against men, women, and children. A freelance journalist named Sami al-Sai, 46, recounted that Israeli guards raped him using a rubber baton and later a carrot. He described a woman guard who “grabbed him by the penis and testicles and joked, ‘These are mine,’ and then squeezed until he screamed from pain.”
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has reported that systematic sexual violence is “widely practiced as part of an organized state policy” in Israel. A UN report stated that sexual torture is “one of Israel’s ‘standard operating procedures’ and ‘a major element in the ill treatment of Palestinians.’”
Additional victims described genital violence including being yanked or beaten on the testicles, metal detectors used to probe between legs followed by smashing into private parts, and in some cases, amputations of testicles after severe beatings. A farmer reported that Israeli guards raped him three times with a metal baton, inviting the third assault by asking for pen and paper to write a complaint.
A Palestinian woman described days of repeated sexual assaults, recounting being forcibly stripped naked, handcuffed, and beaten while her head was forced into the toilet. Another journalist from Gaza detailed enduring “humiliating, filthy sexual assaults,” including being zip-tied with testicles and penis for hours while beaten to the point of blood in urine. He also described a dog being summoned to mount him after he was blindfolded and handcuffed.
A 29-year-old farmer named Suhaib Abualkebash recounted that Israeli settlers cut off his clothes with a hunting knife and zip-tied his penis before yanking it.
The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem supports Kristof’s claims, publishing a report titled “Welcome to Hell” documenting the abuse of Palestinians since October 7, 2023.
Prime Minister Bejanmin Netyanahu has threatened legal action against The New York Times and Nicholas Kristof for defamation, claiming they published “a pack of lies.” The newspaper countered that its reporting was corroborated by multiple witnesses, independent research from human rights groups, surveys, UN testimony, and the expertise of independent experts.
A First Amendment scholar, Rodney Smolla, noted a lawsuit would likely fail due to the high bar for proving malice under U.S. Supreme Court precedent in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. The legal challenge also faces obstacles as U.S. courts do not recognize foreign defamation judgments unless they align with domestic protections.
