Israel is planning legal action against The New York Times and one of its journalists over an article alleging that Israeli soldiers and prison guards carried out widespread sexual abuse against Palestinian detainees.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he had instructed his legal advisers “to consider the harshest possible legal measures” against the newspaper and Nicholas Kristof, the veteran journalist who reported the story, according to Reuters.
“We will fight these lies in the court of public opinion and in court. The truth will prevail,” Netanyahu wrote in a public statement.
However, Benjamin Netanyahu did not specify where or when the lawsuit would be filed.
The Israeli prime minister had also threatened legal action against The New York Times in August last year over a separate report concerning hunger in Gaza, though no lawsuit was ultimately filed.
