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"I don't think that Israel itself could be a plaintiff, and the rationale for that is the notion that it's core to First Amendment values that you have a right to criticize the government as the government," Smolla told the Free Beacon. Kristof's piece also did not name specific Israelis as responsible for the purported sexual abuse, meaning it could be difficult to establish who exactly was libeled.

"If Netanyahu himself sued, he'd have to try to make the argument that this is essentially pointing the finger at him, as if he's condoning this, or encouraging this, or failing to act properly to restrain it," Smolla explained. "My instinct is that's a relatively weak claim." Most libel suits do not make it to the discovery phase of a trial, so Israel would likely find it difficult to unearth evidence that Kristof published his sensational piece with "actual malice."

Puck -- Dylan Byers dylan@puck.news

May 14, 2026
The Case of Israel v. Kristof Is Dead on Arrival
(The Free Press) Jed Rubenfeld

May 14, 2026
Israel says it will sue New York Times over article on sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners
The Guardian (Alice Spery, Jeremy Barr)

May 14, 2026
Netanyahu says Israel will sue The New York Times
CBS News (Graham Kates) KatesG@cbsnews.com or grahamkates@protonmail.com

May 14, 2026
Can Israel actually sue 'The New York Times' over 'dog rape' column?
Jerusalem Post (Sarah Ben Nun)

May 14, 2026
VIDEO "When a NYT op-ed tried to bury the October 7 sexual abuse report
Jerusalem Post-Deep Dive
Jerusalem Reports Editor in Chief Ruth Marks Eglash

May 14, 2026
Israel to take legal action against NYT over 'dog rape' allegations | The Jerusalem Post
Jerusalem Post (Shir Peretz)

May 14, 2025
Israel to Sue New York Times for Defamation
Jihad Watch (Hugh Fitzgerald)

May 14, 2026
"Dr. Michael Oren joined Hugh to discuss the collapse of Kristof into rank anti-Semitism"

May 14, 2026
Israel to sue New York Times over Nicholas Kristoff rape column | Israel National News
1st comment: "Excellent. But Kristof needs also to be sued personally, and for billions. There should be hundreds of separate lawsuits against him, by survivors and relatives of victims. This would be a worthy cause for one of our genuine human rights organizations, like Shurat HaDin."

May 15, 2026
Netanyahu and Israel threaten to sue The New York Times
Poynter (Tom Jones)

May 15, 2026
"'SUE Them & Investigate Kristoff!' Alan Dershowitz UNLEASHED On NYT IDF Dog Libel!"
JNS

May 15, 2026
Israel Threatens To Haul New York Times Into Court Over 'Hideous' Sex Abuse Op Ed
Hoodline (Elise Hadley)

"Legal hurdles ahead

"Legal experts note that transforming an opinion column into a successful libel case is an uphill climb in many jurisdictions. In the United States in particular, defamation law generally protects rhetorical and subjective language, and public-figure plaintiffs must typically prove that specific factual claims are false and were published with actual malice. Recent case law and commentary highlight how hard it is to turn disputed political commentary into an actionable claim, as outlined in analysis at Casemine and in reporting on First Amendment defenses in The Washington Post."

May 15, 2026
"Israel’s Legal Strategy Against the New York Times Isn’t Really About Defamation"
National Review (Mark Goldfeder)

May 15, 2026
Is The New York Times Employing A Terrorist Sympathizer?
Daily Wire (Tal Fortgang)
How can an essay constitute a crime? The answer is that the First Amendment
does not do what so many Americans think it does. It does not protect all expressive conduct, or even all journalism.

May 15, 2026
An In-Depth Critique: Kristof’s ‘Sexual Violence’ Story is the Nadir of Journalism
CAMERA (David Litman)

May 15, 2026
More criticism of Kristof’s allegations about Israel – Why Evolution Is True

May 15, 2026
Debunking Kristof's Claims of Systematic Israeli Sexual Violence
Quillette (Yuki Zeman) pitch@quillette.com

May 15, 2026
Netanyahu government to sue New York Times over Palestinian detainee sexual abuse report
The Online Citizen

Israel to sue New York Times over article on rape of Palestinian detainees, Netanyahu says
Reuters (Steven Scheer)

Israel plans to sue New York Times over 'hideous' article claiming soldiers, dogs raped Palestinians
Just The News

May 15, 2026
Israel Plans to File Defamation Lawsuit Over New York Times Op-Ed
Hollywood Reporter (Winston Cho)

May 15, 2026
NGO Monitor Challenges Kristof NY Times Column on Alleged Sexual Abuse of Palestinians - The Media Line
(staff)

Leading US Jewish group condemns NY Times column alleging sexual abuse of Palestinians
Times of Israel (Luke Tress)

The New York Times and the grotesque NGO halo effect
Jerusalem (Steinberg)

May 17, 2026
“Why Israel’s lawsuit against Times over ‘blood libel’ has a chance”
NY Post (Jonathan Turley) and May 18^th blog

May 19, 2026
Instapundit » Blog Archive » ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Civil war brewing at New York Times following publication of column al

May 18, 2026
A Miscarriage of Journalism at ‘The New York Times’
Free Press (Roy Altman)

May 19, 2026
"I Sued Time Magazine for Ariel Sharon. An Israeli Case Against the New York Times Stands No Chance - Opinion"
Ha-Aretz (Dov Weissglas)

May 19, 2026
Israeli ambassador accuses New York Times of fueling the 'dramatic rise in antisemitism' with dog rape story

"Why Even Israel's Critics Questioed The NYT Story"
Unpacking Israel History (Noam Weissman-Haviv Rettig Gur)

May 19, 2026
Why Nicholas Kristof’s NYT Column Appeared Just Before the Hamas October 7 Sexual Violence Report
MidEast Journal (Dan Feferman)
info@middleeast24.org.

May 20, 2026
‘The New York Times’ and the revival of the ‘desecration of hosts’ libel
JNS (Greg Kozinovski)

May 20, 2026
Israel Broke the New York Times
Frontpage.mag (Daniel Greenfield)

May 20, 2026
Israeli legal group seeks criminal charges against NYT over 'blood libel' accusations of rape
info@worldisraelnews.com

May 20, 2026
How a public editor could deal with the extreme reactions to Kristof's column
Margaret Sullivan

May 21, 2026 e-mail from Shurat HaDin

May 21, 2026
VIDEO: "Victor Davis Hansen Calls Out The New York Times Over Explosive Israel Story"
The Daily Signal

"He is now being sued by the Israeli government and the Netanyahu administration. I don't think that its going to go anywhere. It's very hard for a foreign county to sue an individual, especially when the prime minister is in the public realm..."

May 21, 2026
America’s rageful Jacobins are the real threat to democracy - Israel & Jewish News - JNS

May 22, 2026
Israel must fight back against antisemitic bullying disguised as journalism
Jerusalem Post (David Ben Basat)

May 22, 2026
"A serious challenge" former Deputy NYS Comptroller Bob Ward analyzes Albany's budget gaps
(Tom Eschen)

May 20, 2026
Israeli legal group seeks criminal charges against NYT over 'blood libel' accusations of rape | World Israel News

Mark Goldfeder responds to Nicholas Kristof & NYT
Israpundit

May 23, 2026
Nick Kristof Flunks Journalism 101 Again; UPDATE: Spanish Police Beat Activists
Hotair (David Strum)

May 24, 2026
Experts Say Israel Likely Cannot Win Against The New York Times. Here’s What It Can Do Instead
Media Line (Maayan Hoffman)
"editor@themedialine.org" <editor@themedialine.org>

May 24, 2026
Clutching at Straws: New York Times’ Desperate Defense of Kristof’s ‘Dog-Rape’ Column | HonestReporting
(Rachel O'Donoghue)

May 25, 2026
New York Times fails ethics in Kristof Israel op-ed, fueling antisemitism
Jerusalem Post (Lilac Sigan)

Adam Louis-Klein of the Movement Against Antizionism

Stop Antizionism

Hineni

End Jew Hatred

Kristof’s Unbelievable Israeli Prison Rape Story
WSJ (Rachel McDonoghue)
"How the New York Times Laundered Dubious Sexual Abuse Claims Against Israel"
Honest Reporting

The Hugh Hewitt Show - Opinion and Information with a Unique Twist

hugh@hughhewitt.com

Puck -- Dylan Byers dylan@puck.news

Dylan Byers, a closely read media reporter with Puck, wondered in his latest newsletter "whether the paper even considered putting additional reporters on this Opinion piece and reframing it as a straight news story—and whether they've tasked reporters with fact-checking those claims now."

Status, another media newsletter, pointed out that the Times's "newsroom has yet to advance or incorporate any of the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner's reporting or touch on any of the allegations made in the piece, maintaining radio silence despite the continuing scrutiny. Kristof's bombshell report has also not appeared on any of The Times' podcasts, where the paper's biggest stories are typically showcased."

May 8, 2026 article New York Times Pulitzer-Winning Photographer Calls Hamas and Jihadist Militants 'Martyrs' and 'Resistance,' Criticizes Israel for 'War on Gaza’s Children'

The Times’ Kristof Controversy
Status (Natalie Korach) -- citing to Smolla, quoted in Free Beacon
Rod Smolla, a veteran First Amendment lawyer who works as senior counsel at Meier Watkins Phillips Pusch, noted that an Israeli government lawsuit will likely be tossed from the American courts due to the well-established right for news organizations to aggressively criticize the government.

‘Rapist dogs?’ Woke journalism’s antisemitic war on Israel crosses a line - Israel & Jewish News - JNS

May 20, 2026
Opinion | Hatred of Israel and the Degradation of the West - The New York Times
Brett Stephens

May 21, 2026
Canine Class Action vs NY Times"

May 25, 2026
Credibility crisis: 'NYT' rape story source caught removing terrorists from its 'Gaza journalists' list
JNS (David Isaac)

May 26, 2026
Founder of group sourced for Kristof story proud of Hamas ties
JNS

May 29, 2026
Mark Goldfeder on X: "Watch this. This is literally insane. No, we didn't verify any of the information before we put Israel on a blacklist. To @NickKristof's point, no, we wouldn't visit detention facilities if offered. Wow. just wow." / X

(27) Post | LinkedIn

Evidence vs. Lies: Which Made Headlines? {26 May 2026} The Focus Project

May 31, 2026
NYT shareholder calls for probe of Board documents after Kristof article | The Jerusalem Post
Jerusalem Post (Mathilda Heller)

May 31, 2026
The Blogs: Nicholas Kristof, the New York Times, and the Changing Role of Journalists
Times of Israel (Brad Goverman) Jew News Review

NGO Monitor calls for independent probe of 'NYT,' Kristof scandal
Cleveland Jewish News (from JNS)
ngo-monitor.org/about/

June 1, 2026
After Kristof column, the New York Times cannot rely on reputation alone
Jerusalem Post (editorial)