The New York Times on Wednesday night issued a statement affirming its support for Nicholas Kristof's controversial op-ed published on Monday, which included allegations of serious sexual abuse of Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
Kristof "draws together on-the-record accounts and cites several analyses documenting the practice of sexual violence and abuse conducted by various parts of Israel's security forces and settlers," the NYT statement read.
His "deeply reported piece of opinion journalism starts with a proposition to readers: 'Whatever our views of the Middle East conflict, we should be able to unite in condemning rape,'" the news outlet stated.
"The accounts of the 14 men and women he interviewed were corroborated with other witnesses, whenever possible, and with people the victims confided in - that includes family members and lawyers," the outlet said.
"Details were extensively fact-checked, with accounts further cross-referenced with news reporting, independent research from human-rights groups, surveys, and in one case, with UN testimony," it added.
"Independent experts were consulted on the assertions in the piece throughout reporting and fact-checking," the statement concluded.
Israel slams NYT opinion article on Palestinian abuse, ignoring Oct. 7 sexual violence
On Tuesday, Israel's Foreign Ministry denounced the timing of the op-ed, particularly as the outlet decided not to publish the findings of Israel's Civil Commission into Hamas's systemic violence during, and since, the October 7 massacre.
"Aware of the report and its release date, the night before its release, the NYT ran a shameful attack on Israel, belittling Hamas’ sexual crimes. That tells you everything about the NYT's agenda," the ministry wrote on X/Twitter.
The ministry, in a previous X/Twitter post on Monday, denounced the op-ed, calling it "one of the worst blood libels ever to appear in the modern press."
"In an unfathomable inversion of reality, and through an endless stream of baseless lies, propagandist Nicholas Kristof turns the victim into the accused," the ministry wrote.
Additionally, activists from both Israel and Palestinian society have downplayed the validity of the author's sources, claiming heavy bias and a lack of accuracy.
Gazan-born anti-Hamas activist Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib wrote on X/Twitter that while he believes that sexual abuse did occur in Israeli prisons, "some cited entities and individuals, including the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor and Shaiel Ben Ephraim, have troubling records on accuracy, conduct, and associations."
"They are not credible sources, even if the article relied on others as well. Many Palestinian testimonies were anonymous due to shame and fear of retaliation for reporting sexual torture, which complicates verification but does not automatically invalidate their claims," Alkhatib added.
The Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor investigated ties between "the worst and most cited NGO, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor," and Hamas terrorists.
The organization shared photographs of Euro-Med Monitor's founder, Ramy Adbu, at a 2013 panel alongside Hamas leader Osama Hamdan.
Abdu was identified by Israel as one of Hamas's "main operatives and institutions in Europe," NGO Monitor wrote.
He had stated that "Israel has an insatiable appetite for drinking the blood of Palestinian children," according to the watchdog.
Abdu and Mazen Awni Issa Kahel, Euro-Med Monitor's chair from 2015 until 2019, were pictured alongside Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh in 2011.
NGO Monitor also criticized Save the Children, saying that the op-ed claims to have surveyed minors who were "between 12 and 17 years old when they were detained." Those surveyed, if the events claimed even occurred, likely included child soldiers who were recruited and trained by Hamas and other terror groups to carry out attacks, NGO Monitor said.
Additionally, the Committee to Project Journalists, which the op-ed's author called "a respected American organization," has a history of "laundering terrorists as 'journalists' and being forced to remove neutralized terrorists from its list of journalists killed in Gaza," NGO Monitor said.
