Hundreds of pro-Israel and Jewish protesters gathered outside The New York Times headquarters in Manhattan on Thursday, condemning the paper over a controversial Nicholas Kristof column that accused Israel of systemic sexual abuse against Palestinian detainees.
Hundreds of demonstrators lined the sidewalk outside the Times building, chanting, “New York Times, shame on you,” “We will not be silent,” and “New York Times, get it straight, stop the libels, stop the hate.”
The rally was organized by Stop Antizionism, the Movement Against Antizionism, Hineni, and End Jew Hatred. Several of the groups formed after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, reflecting a growing movement in the American Jewish community that views anti-Zionism as a form of antisemitism.
Critics have accused Kristof’s column of relying on sources tied to anti-Israel activism and amplifying claims they say lack credible evidence. Particular outrage centered on allegations that Israeli forces used dogs to sexually assault Palestinian prisoners, a claim critics have called implausible and unsupported.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced Thursday the initiation of a lawsuit against The New York Times for publishing “one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel.”
“Today I instructed my legal advisers to consider the harshest legal action against The New York Times and Nicholas Kristof,” Netanyahu tweeted Thursday. “They defamed the soldiers of Israel and perpetuated a blood libel about rape, trying to create a false symmetry between the genocidal terrorists of Hamas and Israel’s valiant soldiers.”
“Under my leadership, Israel will not be silent. We will fight these lies in the court of public opinion and in the court of law. Truth will prevail,” he added.
The timing of the column also drew scrutiny. Opponents noted that it was published one day before the release of a Civil Commission report documenting Hamas’s use of sexual violence during the Oct. 7 attacks.
Israeli officials accused the Times of diverting attention from that report. “Aware of the report and its release date, the night before its release, The New York Times ran a shameful attack on Israel, belittling Hamas’s sexual crimes,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said. “That tells you everything about The New York Times’s agenda.”
According to the Jewish News Syndicate, critics have demolished Kristof’s sources. He cited a report by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, a Geneva-based group that accuses Israel of “systematic sexual violence” as part of “organized state policy.” NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem-based watchdog, has reported that key Euro-Med figures have alleged links to Hamas, including founder and chairman Ramy Abdu, who appeared on a 2013 Israeli list of Hamas’s “main operatives and institutions” in Europe.
Kristof also cited the Committee to Protect Journalists, calling it “a respected American organization.” In 2024, investigative journalist David Collier accused the group of repeating Hamas propaganda in a report alleging that Israel targeted journalists in Gaza.
Kristof appeared to accept the allegations as credible, writing, “[O]ur American tax dollars subsidize the Israeli security establishment, so this is sexual violence in which the United States is complicit.”
He also referenced the Sde Teiman affair, in which five IDF reservists serving in Force 100, a Military Police unit responsible for high-risk security prisoners, were indicted in 2025 over accusations of sexually abusing a Palestinian prisoner. The case was later dropped, and the reservists were reinstated.
Calls for a boycott of The New York Times have grown in recent days, with Jewish leaders, activists, and public figures urging subscribers to cancel. The rally ended after about an hour with protesters singing Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah.”
Despite mounting backlash, The New York Times has repeatedly defended the column and rejected rumors that it would retract it. “There is no truth to this at all,” Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander said of retraction claims. “Nicholas Kristof is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has reported on sexual violence for decades and is widely regarded as one of the world’s best on-the-ground reporters documenting and bearing witness to sexual abuse experienced by women and men in war and conflict zones.”
He added that Kristof “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.”
The paper also denied accusations that it intentionally timed publication of the column to overshadow the Civil Commission report.
“The Times never passed on the Civil Commission report and wasn’t told about its completion or the timing of its release,” Stadtlander said. “Once the report was made public, we covered its findings. The commission’s work also had no bearing on Nicholas Kristof’s opinion column or its publication timing.”
Before Thursday’s protest, The New York Times issued another statement responding to Netanyahu’s threat of legal action and defending the reporting. “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,” said Danielle Rhoades Ha, the paper’s senior vice president for communications.
“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.”
Hundreds of demonstrators lined the sidewalk outside the Times building, chanting, “New York Times, shame on you,” “We will not be silent,” and “New York Times, get it straight, stop the libels, stop the hate.”
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The rally was organized by Stop Antizionism, the Movement Against Antizionism, Hineni, and End Jew Hatred. Several of the groups formed after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, reflecting a growing movement in the American Jewish community that views anti-Zionism as a form of antisemitism.
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Critics have accused Kristof’s column of relying on sources tied to anti-Israel activism and amplifying claims they say lack credible evidence. Particular outrage centered on allegations that Israeli forces used dogs to sexually assault Palestinian prisoners, a claim critics have called implausible and unsupported.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced Thursday the initiation of a lawsuit against The New York Times for publishing “one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel.”
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“Today I instructed my legal advisers to consider the harshest legal action against The New York Times and Nicholas Kristof,” Netanyahu tweeted Thursday. “They defamed the soldiers of Israel and perpetuated a blood libel about rape, trying to create a false symmetry between the genocidal terrorists of Hamas and Israel’s valiant soldiers.”
“Under my leadership, Israel will not be silent. We will fight these lies in the court of public opinion and in the court of law. Truth will prevail,” he added.
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The timing of the column also drew scrutiny. Opponents noted that it was published one day before the release of a Civil Commission report documenting Hamas’s use of sexual violence during the Oct. 7 attacks.
Israeli officials accused the Times of diverting attention from that report. “Aware of the report and its release date, the night before its release, The New York Times ran a shameful attack on Israel, belittling Hamas’s sexual crimes,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said. “That tells you everything about The New York Times’s agenda.”
According to the Jewish News Syndicate, critics have demolished Kristof’s sources. He cited a report by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, a Geneva-based group that accuses Israel of “systematic sexual violence” as part of “organized state policy.” NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem-based watchdog, has reported that key Euro-Med figures have alleged links to Hamas, including founder and chairman Ramy Abdu, who appeared on a 2013 Israeli list of Hamas’s “main operatives and institutions” in Europe.
Kristof also cited the Committee to Protect Journalists, calling it “a respected American organization.” In 2024, investigative journalist David Collier accused the group of repeating Hamas propaganda in a report alleging that Israel targeted journalists in Gaza.
Kristof appeared to accept the allegations as credible, writing, “[O]ur American tax dollars subsidize the Israeli security establishment, so this is sexual violence in which the United States is complicit.”
He also referenced the Sde Teiman affair, in which five IDF reservists serving in Force 100, a Military Police unit responsible for high-risk security prisoners, were indicted in 2025 over accusations of sexually abusing a Palestinian prisoner. The case was later dropped, and the reservists were reinstated.
Calls for a boycott of The New York Times have grown in recent days, with Jewish leaders, activists, and public figures urging subscribers to cancel. The rally ended after about an hour with protesters singing Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah.”
Despite mounting backlash, The New York Times has repeatedly defended the column and rejected rumors that it would retract it. “There is no truth to this at all,” Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander said of retraction claims. “Nicholas Kristof is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has reported on sexual violence for decades and is widely regarded as one of the world’s best on-the-ground reporters documenting and bearing witness to sexual abuse experienced by women and men in war and conflict zones.”
He added that Kristof “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.”
The paper also denied accusations that it intentionally timed publication of the column to overshadow the Civil Commission report.
“The Times never passed on the Civil Commission report and wasn’t told about its completion or the timing of its release,” Stadtlander said. “Once the report was made public, we covered its findings. The commission’s work also had no bearing on Nicholas Kristof’s opinion column or its publication timing.”
Before Thursday’s protest, The New York Times issued another statement responding to Netanyahu’s threat of legal action and defending the reporting. “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,” said Danielle Rhoades Ha, the paper’s senior vice president for communications.
“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.”
