New York Times Rebukes Netanyahu Legal Threat With Strong Statement

The Israeli Prime Minister, who was accused last year of crimes against humanity, threatened on Fox News this week to sue the Times over its reporting on Gaza.

The New York Times issued a strong statement Thursday in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told Fox News during a sit-down interview this week that the paper should be sued over its reporting on Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza.

“I’m actually looking at whether a country can sue The New York Times,” Netanyahu said in the interview, which aired Thursday. “And I’m looking into it right now because I think it’s such... it’s such clear defamation.”

Netanyahu was referring to a front-page Times report on the mass starvation of besieged Palestinians in Gaza. His gripe appears to be that the story didn’t originally note that one of the malnourished boys featured in the piece suffered from pre-existing health issues, which may have affected his physique.

Netanyahu told Fox News that the reported rise of antisemitism is tied directly to a “campaign of vilification that is done by so-called reputable news media” — and slammed the Times for updating the story with what he called a lacking editor’s note on July 29.

The editor’s note reads, “This article has been updated to include information about Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, a child in Gaza suffering from severe malnutrition. After publication of this article, The Times learned from his doctor that Mohammed also had pre-existing health problems.”