The former Prime Minister of Israel says that the NY Times misrepresented him in the case of the raping of a prisoner’s dog
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Note: This story contains graphic allegations of sexual violence.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is firing back at the New York Times after it was quoted as appearing to confirm allegations of sexual violence against Palestinian prisoners.
A report written by Times newspaper columnist Nicholas Kristof was published on Monday revealing allegations of abuse against 14 men and women who said they were “sexually abused by immigrants or members of the security forces.” Allegations ranged from sexual assault to dog penetration.
“To try to make sense of what I found, I called Ehud Olmert, who was prime minister from 2006 to 2009,” Kristof told the students. “Olmert told me that he knows nothing about the violence against the Palestinian people, but he was not surprised by what I heard.”
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New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote a controversial piece titled, “The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians.” (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
Kristof went on to quote Olmert, who said, “Do I believe it’s happening? Absolutely… There are war crimes being committed every day in places.”
However, Olmert ignored the placement of his quote, which was placed at the end of Kristof’s report.
“Mr. Kristof’s article includes serious claims: that Israeli authorities have ordered the rape of children, that dogs are used as tools for sexual abuse, that organized sexual abuse is a national policy. I have not verified these claims,” Olmert said in a statement obtained by the Free Press.
“I have no information to support these claims as I told Mr. Kristof. Therefore, the placement of my quote after pages of such allegations misrepresents my views,” he added.
The New York Times did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has criticized the New York Times for misrepresenting his words in an explosive story about sexual violence against Palestinian prisoners. (Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images; Al Drago/Getty Images)
The report drew a major backlash from critics, with many questioning the credibility of Kristof’s sources, some of whom are supporters of the Hamas terrorist group that attacked on October 7. Others called it “propaganda.”
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the report, calling it “one of the worst bloody stories ever to appear in today’s press.”
“In an unprecedented twist of truth, and by using an endless stream of baseless lies, Nicholas Kristof of propaganda turns the victim into the accused. Israel – whose citizens were the victims of the horrific sexual crimes committed by Hamas on October 7, and whose captives later suffered ongoing sexual abuse – is presented as a group indicted in X Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“This publication is not accidental. It is part of a false and well-planned anti-Israel campaign aimed at putting Israel on the UN Secretary-General’s blacklist,” he added. “Israel will fight these lies with the truth – and the truth will prevail.”
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A member of the Israel Defense Forces gestures as he patrols during an army raid on the Qalandia refugee camp, south of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on May 11, 2026. (Getty Images)
The Times defended Kristof amid mounting criticism.
“Nicholas Kristof is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has covered sexual violence for decades, and is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading journalists covering and reporting on the sexual abuse experienced by women and men in conflict zones,” wrote Times spokesman Charlie Stadtlander.
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“He traveled to the region to report first-hand the stories of Palestinian victims, and his story collects accounts from the victims’ own words, supported by independent studies,” the statement added.
