Nick Kristof’s Reporting Demands Accountability

Jewish Americans must demand a credible, independent investigation – not denial – into horrific allegations of sexual abuse.

Warning: This post contains potentially distressing discussion of sexual violence.

My heart broke, and my stomach churned – as I’m sure many of yours did – reading Nick Kristof’s reporting in the New York Times detailing multiple first-person accounts of sexual abuse and rape of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.

For many of us, the widespread sexual violence committed on October 7 was among the most horrifying aspects of that terrible day – and more reports documenting the extensive nature of the violence continue to be released.

The struggle by the victims and their families to have that trauma acknowledged has been painful and personal.

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First and foremost, I want to express my – and J Street’s – deep anguish for all who endure sexual violence and abuse, at anyone’s hands.

As horrific as these stories are – we cannot and must not look away.

There is a reflexive temptation, when confronted with reports of unspeakable abuses committed by Jews or by the State of Israel, to dismiss them outright. To blame the messenger. To convince ourselves that the world is simply against us.

But that cannot be our response.

Yes, some details and allegations remain disputed. They should be rigorously investigated. Credible journalism must always be scrutinized carefully, especially in wartime.

But serious allegations of systemic abuse cannot simply be waved away because they are painful or politically inconvenient.

The response must not be denial.

It should be a demand for credible, independent investigation and real accountability.

That’s why J Street is gathering signatures on a petition to Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, calling for a credible, independent investigation into these allegations and for anyone found responsible to be held fully accountable.

Too many Israeli and Jewish communal leaders have responded to reports like Kristof’s by attacking journalists and the outlets they write for or the human rights organizations unearthing the abuses, and the investigators who work for them.

This creates an atmosphere in which abuses are minimized, excused or normalized.

Rather than fully reckoning with allegations and ensuring credible accountability, political leaders too often rally to defend those accused – as when video footage emerged in 2024 appearing to show IDF soldiers sexually abusing a Palestinian prisoner at Sde Teiman.

Rather than focusing first on accountability and the rule of law, Prime Minister Netanyahu referred to that case as a “blood libel,” and called the filmed soldiers “heroic fighters.”

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Of all the horrors of the last two and a half years, Kristof’s story is among the hardest to absorb.

It is a gut punch to all who have fought for an Israel that will live up to its founding ideals – and to the liberal, democratic and Jewish values we cherish.

And, of course, it is devastating to Palestinians whose loved ones are currently in Israeli detention.

But we cannot afford to surrender to despair. We owe it to those who summoned the courage to speak out.

We are obligated by the foundational teaching of our tradition: That every human being is created b’tzelem elohim – in the image of God.

We are commanded by the Torah, again and again, that we who once cried out as slaves in Egypt must never oppress the stranger.

So let this moment be a call to action.

We must stand with those in Israel, Palestine and the United States who believe that Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve dignity, safety and freedom from abuse and dehumanization.

And right now, that means demanding a credible, independent investigation into these allegations – and accountability for anyone found responsible.