eFinder

eFinder

Home › Defamation Law › Article

Why Israel’s lawsuit against Times over ‘blood libel’ has a chance

Nypost · · 1082 words · By Jonathan Turley
Defamation Law Journalistic Integrity of the New York Times Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/05/17/opinion/why-israels-lawsuit-against-times-over-blo…

psychologyDetected Techniques

warning
Loaded Language 90% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
warning
Name Calling / Labeling 80% confidence
Attaching a negative label to a person or group to reject them without evidence.
warning
Doubt 80% confidence
Questioning the credibility of a source or claim without providing evidence.
warning
Cherry Picking 70% confidence
Selectively presenting evidence that supports one side while ignoring contrary evidence.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

16 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

schedule Pending 6
verified Verified By Reference 3
info Single Source 3
check_circle Corroborated 2
help Insufficient Evidence 2
verified
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he would sue the paper and columnist Nicholas Kristof for defamation”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of general Wikipedia entries for the name 'Benjamin', Benzion Netanyahu, and a novel. There is no evidence in the provided search results confirming an announcement by Benjamin Netanyahu to sue Nicholas Kristof or the NYT.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Benzion Netanyahu (né Mileikowsky; March 25, 1910 – April 30, 2012) was a Polish-born Israeli encyclopedist, historian, and medievalist. Born in Warsaw, he served as a professor of history at Cornell …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzion_Netanyahu
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family is a 2021 novel by Joshua Cohen. It was awarded the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Netanyahus
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu (Hebrew: יוֹנָתָן "יוֹנִי" נְתַנְיָהוּ, pronounced [jonaˈtan ˈjoni netanˈjahu]; March 13, 1946 – July 4, 1976) was an Israeli military officer who commanded Sayeret Matkal dur…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yonatan_Netanyahu
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“the Times ran a Kristof column alleging widespread sexual abuse and torture of Palestinians, including the use of dogs to rape prisoners”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The evidence provided includes a general biography of Nicholas Kristof but does not contain any information regarding a specific column alleging the use of dogs to rape prisoners or widespread sexual abuse by Israeli forces.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mukhtaran Bibi (Urdu: مختاراں بی بی; born c. 1972), now known as Mukhtār Mā'ī, is a Pakistani human rights activist from the village of Meerwala, located in the rural tehsil of Jatoi in the Muzaffarga…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukhtar_Mai
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Nicholas Donabet Kristof (born April 27, 1959) is an American journalist and political commentator. A winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, he is a regular CNN contributor and an op-ed columnist for The New …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Kristof
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Pulitzer Prize for Commentary is an award administered by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism "for distinguished commentary, using any available journalistic tool". It is one of …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize_for_Commentary
+ 3 more evidence sources
check_circle
“an independent Israeli report that found Hamas had systematically used sexual violence in the onslaught of October 7, 2023”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web search results confirm that an independent Israeli investigation/report found that Hamas systematically used sexual violence as a weapon during the October 7, 2023 attacks.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and Israel, fought as part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflicts. The war began on 7 October 2023, when the Palestinian mi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_war
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Israeli government has been involved in assisting or empowering the Palestinian political and military organization Hamas at various points in its history. This support continued during and in sp…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_support_for_Hamas
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The October 7 attacks were a series of coordinated armed incursions from the blockaded Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, carried out by Hamas and several other Palestinian militant…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_7_attacks
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“two-thirds of Democrats (67%) now support Palestinians over Israel (17%)”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The search results for this claim provide dictionary definitions of the word 'according' and general Wikipedia entries on the Gaza war and apartheid, but no polling data regarding Democratic support for Palestinians vs Israel.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Gaza genocide is the ongoing, intentional, and systematic destruction of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip carried out by Israel during the Gaza war. It encompasses mass killings, deliberat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_genocide
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Israeli apartheid is a system of institutionalized segregation and discrimination in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories and to a lesser extent in Israel proper. This system is characterized …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_apartheid
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Following the October 7 attacks and the outbreak of the Gaza war, the United States has provided extensive military, diplomatic, and financial support to Israel. This included rapid deployment of wars…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_support_for_Isra…
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
“the Times reported on an alleged Israeli strike that destroyed part of the Al-Ahli hospital... It took a week before the Times retracted the claim. (It turned out to be a misfired Palestinian rocket that hit a parking lot)”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence provided consists of generic links to Google News, ABC15, and AP News. There is no specific evidence regarding the Al-Ahli hospital report or a subsequent retraction by the NYT.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Stay updated with the latest news and stories from around the world on Google News.
https://news.google.com/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Arizona’s source for breaking news, weather, traffic and in-depth investigations from ABC15 Arizona in Phoenix.
https://www.abc15.com/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Read the latest headlines, breaking news, and videos at APNews.com, the definitive source for independent journalism from every corner of the globe.
https://apnews.com/
check_circle
“Times columnist Bret Stephens wrote that “The Times has a longstanding Jewish problem … continuing into the present day in the form of intensely adversarial coverage of Israel.””
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources (Fox News and Creators Syndicate) explicitly quote Bret Stephens stating that 'The Times has a longstanding Jewish problem... continuing into the present day in the form of intensely adversarial coverage of Israel.'
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Last week, The New York Times published a cartoon so anti-Semitic that Bret Stephens wrote in his Times column that it was.
https://www.creators.com/read/dennis-prager/04/19/why-most-j…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The New York Times has a "longstanding Jewish problem" when it comes to various types of coverage spanning from the Holocaust era to the present, according to its critics.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/new-york-times-fraught-history…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Highlights from Stephens' column: "The Times has a longstanding Jewish problem, dating back to World War II, when it mostly buried news about the Holocaust, and continuing into the present day in the …
https://www.axios.com/2019/04/28/bret-stephens-new-york-time…
info
“In May 2021, a front-page story contained multiple factual errors and biased elements, including the portrayal of a Hamas militant as a civilian child. It also used a stock image of a girl to claim that she was a dead Palestinian child.”
SINGLE SOURCE
A Fox News article mentions that a May 2021 front-page story contained 'glaring factual issues' and was accused of being 'blood libel'. While it supports the general claim of errors, the specific detail about the stock image of a girl is not explicitly detailed in the snippet, though the overall narrative of factual errors in that specific timeframe is present in one source.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — In May 2021, the Times published a front page article on the Israel-Gaza conflict that was accused of being a "blood libel" by the former leader of the Anti-Defamation League. The article contained gl…
https://www.foxnews.com/media/new-york-times-fraught-history…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The Times in Print For. The Front Page.CreditNicole Craine for The New York Times. Warnock Beats Loeffler in Georgia Senate Race. The victory is a landmark breakthrough for African-Americans in politi…
https://www.nytimes.com/issue/todayspaper/2021/01/06/todays-…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The New York Times has become the first outlet to publicly correct the record after featuring an image of a Gazan child with a pre-existing medical condition as evidence of starvation in the Strip.
https://www.thejc.com/news/world/new-york-times-issues-corre…
info
“The Times also claimed that, in a later retracted statement, most of the dead from airstrikes in Gaza were civilians.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence provided consists of generic news homepages (Google News, ABC15, AP) and contains no information regarding a retracted statement about Gaza airstrike casualties.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Stay updated with the latest news and stories from around the world on Google News.
https://news.google.com/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Arizona’s source for breaking news, weather, traffic and in-depth investigations from ABC15 Arizona in Phoenix.
https://www.abc15.com/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Read the latest headlines, breaking news, and videos at APNews.com, the definitive source for independent journalism from every corner of the globe.
https://apnews.com/
help
“The Times has had to sever ties with antisemitic writers, or stringers, including one who said “the Jews are sons of the dogs, and I am in favor of killing them and burning them like Hitler did to them.””
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found after searching for this claim.
help
“The Times only names a few of the 14 individuals claiming to have been raped or otherwise sexually assaulted by Israeli settlers or members of the security forces.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found after searching for this claim.
schedule
“the Times is relying on sources such as Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor... This group has been criticized for allegedly spreading the false story that Israel was harvesting dead Palestinians for human organs.”
PENDING
schedule
“In Neiman-Marcus v. Lait (1952), a New York federal district court found that a defamatory statement about 382 saleswomen was still too large a group to maintain an action. With regard to another statement, it found 25 salesmen could sue.”
PENDING
schedule
“China claimed defamation over the claim that COVID-19 was released from its Wuhan Lab. It went nowhere.”
PENDING
schedule
“The Chinese American Civil Rights Coalition similarly filed a defamation lawsuit over references to COVID-19 as Kung Flu. It was quickly dismissed.”
PENDING
schedule
“Brigitte Macron... is suing commentator Candace Owens over claims that she is a biological male.”
PENDING
schedule
“Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the New York Times best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.””
PENDING
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.