Israel’s consul general in New York, Ofir Akunis, has ordered the Israeli Consulate to end its subscriptions to The New York Times, accusing the newspaper of publishing “blood libels” against Israel and contributing to antisemitism in the United States, the New York Post reported exclusively Friday.
Akunis instructed consulate employees to cancel the subscriptions immediately, according to a statement provided exclusively to the Post. The number of subscriptions affected was not disclosed.
“The New York Times has crossed every red line. This is no longer ‘journalism’ but a well-oiled, coordinated machine spreading blood libels against the Jewish state. Enough is enough!” Akunis said.
He accused the Times of repeatedly relying on anonymous sources whose affiliations were later called into question.
“The New York Times is a newspaper that routinely publishes false blood libels and has, over many years, consistently incited hate against the State of Israel,” Akunis said. “It hides behind the cover of ‘anonymous sources,’ which on several occasions have been exposed as terrorists and Hamas operatives. I have instructed the consulate staff to immediately cancel our subscription to this newspaper.”
Akunis said criticism of Israel was legitimate but argued that the newspaper’s coverage had gone beyond criticism.
“We respect and accept criticism, but we will not lend legitimacy to the spread of hatred and falsehoods against the Jewish state. This incitement and these blood libels are fueling the surge in antisemitism and the rise in violent attacks against Jews in the United States.”
The New York Times defended its reporting in a response to the Post.
“The New York Times’s breadth of coverage on Israel and the Middle East has been deeply reported and fair,” a Times spokesperson said, adding that the consulate was free to cancel its subscriptions but arguing that rejecting independent reporting would leave readers less informed about major events.
The dispute follows repeated criticism of the Times over its Israel coverage since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened legal action against the newspaper in May over a column alleging widespread mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners. The Post reported that Netanyahu had also threatened legal action in 2025 over what he described as defamatory reporting about Israel’s conduct of the Gaza war.
The Post also reported in January that Hussam Abu Safiya, a Gaza doctor who wrote anti-Israel opinion pieces for the Times after Oct. 7, had served as a Hamas colonel. Israel arrested Abu Safiya in 2024 on suspicion of being a Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist, according to the Israel Defense Forces