Israeli officials said Thursday that the country plans to take legal action against The New York Times over a "hideous and distorted" opinion story alleging Israeli soldiers and their dogs raped Palestinian prisoners. 

The opinion piece was written by staff opinion columnist Nicholas Kristof and detailed allegations of widespread rape of Palestinians – men, women and children – held in Israeli prisons. 

"Following the publication by Nicholas Kristof in The New York Times of one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel in the modern press, which also received the backing of the newspaper, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar have instructed the initiation of a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times," the Israeli Foreign Minister said in a post on X. 

Kristof's column, which cited accounts from 14 former Palestinian prisoners, sparked a fierce backlash from experts saying it is Jew-hating propaganda, the New York Post reported. 

In a statement to Just the News, Danielle Rhoades Ha, New York Times spokesperson, said that the accounts of the men and women Kristof interviewed were corroborated with witnesses, whenever possible, and with people the victims confided in, including family members and lawyers. These details were extensively fact-checked, she said. 

"The Israeli Prime Minister has threatened to file a libel lawsuit against The New York Times regarding Nicholas Kristof’s deeply reported opinion column on sexual abuse by Israel’s prison guards, soldiers, settlers, and interrogators. This threat, similar to one made last year, is part of a well-worn political playbook that aims to undermine independent reporting and stifle journalism that does not fit a specific narrative. Any such legal claim would be without merit," Ha said.