Ex-PM: ‘Shameless’ NY Times guilty of ‘blood libel’ targeting Israel

Naftali Bennett accuses the New York Times of inciting global hate with a misleading photo of a sick Gazan child.

By World Israel News Staff

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett slammed The New York Times after the outlet admitted that a photo it published — purporting to show a starving child in Gaza — actually depicted a boy with a serious genetic illness.

Bennett said that the outlet’s clarification was not enough to offset the anti-Israel hostility stirred up by the publication.

“This is simply unbelievable. After generating a tsunami of hate towards Israel with that terrifying picture, the NYT now quietly admits that the boy has preexisting conditions,” Bennett wrote on his X account Tuesday evening.

Addressing the outlet directly, Bennett added, “You knew that Hamas uses babies with preexisting illnesses. We’ve been saying this for months now. You knew exactly what this picture would cause. This is a blood libel in 2025. Have you no shame?”

In an editor’s note, the Times reiterated its claim that children in Gaza are starving due to the ongoing war and the Israeli blockade, despite publishing photographs of children it alleged were malnourished.

One of the children featured, an 18-month-old Gazan toddler named Muhammad al-Matouq, appeared to be in extremely poor health.

However, investigative journalist David Collier revealed that al-Matouq had several preexisting medical conditions long before the war began.

Al-Matouq suffers from cerebral palsy, among other serious ailments.

Collier also pointed out that an interview between al-Matouq’s mother and the BBC was selectively edited to omit her statement that he had required extensive medical care even prior to the October 7 massacres.

Another child presented in international media as suffering from starvation, Osama al-Raqab, has cystic fibrosis — a severe genetic disorder that frequently leads to early death.

Notably, family members of both al-Matouq and al-Raqab appear to be in good health, showing no visible signs of malnutrition or starvation.