New York Times defends journalist after Israel threatens to sue

The New York Times has said libel action threatened against it by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over an article alleging sexual assaults against Palestinian detainees by Israeli security services is "without merit". It responded after Netanyahu and his foreign minister issued a statement saying they had ordered the "initiation of a defamation lawsuit". It follows the publication on Monday of the article which claimed there was "a pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children" carried out by soldiers, settlers, interrogators and prison guards. It is not clear how, or if, such a claim by the Israeli state against the US newspaper could be pursued. Warning: This story contains descriptions of sexual violence The statement issued by Netanyahu and Gideon Saar on Thursday accused the New York Times of "one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel in the modern press". Israel's foreign ministry alleged that the writer, Nicholas Kristof, had based his piece "on unverified sources tied to Hamas-linked networks". In response, the New York Times issued a statement saying: "The Israeli Prime Minister has