Israeli Foreign Ministry said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar instructed the launch of a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times following the publication of an article by columnist Nicholas Kristof.

In a statement shared on US social media company X by the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Israeli officials described the article as “one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel in the modern press.”

The ministry also accused the newspaper of backing the article and said legal action would be initiated against The New York Times.

The announcement came after Kristof published an opinion piece 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.

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 UN 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 UN report published last year accusing Israel of “systematically” subjecting Palestinians to “sexualized torture.”

The New York Times and Kristof had not publicly responded to Israel’s lawsuit announcement at the time of publication. (AA)