An incendiary article published by the New York Times, which alleges horrific widespread rape of Palestinians at the hands of Israeli prison guards and soldiers, has been slammed by experts — who say that it lacks legitimate evidence and is the type of cartoonishly evil propaganda that would make “Goebbels blush.”
The column, penned by Nicholas Kristof and published Monday, claimed sexual torture is baked into Israel’s “security apparatus” — and even alleged Israeli forces train dogs to rape Palestinian prisoners, citing accounts from 14 former Palestinian detainees.
However, academics and former officials have dismissed the most graphic accounts as unconfirmed hearsay at best — and Hamas propaganda at worst.
Nadav Pollak, a Middle East studies lecturer at Reichman University in Herzliya, blasted the claims as “blood libels.”
“Any actual case that happened needs to be investigated … but Kristof here intentionally tries to create a distorted reality like this is common practice by Israel and compares it to Hamas,” he wrote.
The Times column was published one day before the release of a two-year investigation detailing evidence of widespread sexual abuse against Israeli civilians during Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack.
Kristof repeated an account from a Palestinian journalist who claimed soldiers commanded a dog to mount and penetrate him.
Middle East analyst Eitan Fischberger argued that there is no hard evidence to confirm the rape occurred and claimed it was a fabrication by the Geneva-based advocacy group Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.
“Utter depravity from Nick for parroting such cartoonishly evil Hamas propaganda that would make Goebbels blush,” he railed.
The Times column cites a Euro-Med report claiming sexual assault is “widely practiced as part of an organized state policy.”
That report includes a story from a 42-year-old woman who said she had been chained to a table and raped for two days while Israeli soldiers filmed the abuse.
Kristof — who said he spoke with 14 alleged abuse victims himself — also mentioned a United Nations report describing the abuse as “standard operating procedures,” but he acknowledged that there is “no evidence that Israeli leaders order rapes.”
Gerald M Steinberg, founder of NGO Monitor, urged readers not to believe “‘eyewitness testimony’ from Hamas terrorists,” calling the column “a mix of lies.”
Jacqueline Carroll, a former sexual crimes prosecutor in Illinois and founder of an extremism consulting group, acknowledged the conflict of interest and called for hard evidence.
“If they can provide legitimate evidence, then they should be listened to,” Carroll told Jewish News Syndicate. “People believe what they see in the media more than they search out the actual facts and truth.”