Israel will sue the New York Times: “one of the most horrifying and distorted lies against it ever”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar ordered today (Thursday) to sue the New York Times, according to the two, for publishing “one of the most horrifying and distorted lies ever against the State of Israel.”

The two also added in their announcement that “in view of Nicholas Christoph’s publication in the New York Times of one of the most horrifying and distorted lies ever against the State of Israel in the modern press, which was also backed by the newspaper, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister have ordered the initiation of a libel suit against the New York Times.”

This announcement comes after the American newspaper published an article in the opinion section, which includes the testimonies of 14 Palestinians who claimed that they were sexually assaulted by settlers or members of the Israeli security establishment. The article includes harsh descriptions of gang rape, as well as a claim that Israel trained dogs to rape Palestinians, and a description of a case where this actually happened.

Against the article it is claimed that it relies, among other things, on a report by a human rights organization with ties to Hamas and Palestinian activists against Israel. They published a statement in the newspaper in which they defended the publication.