“The Israeli Defense Ministry’s research and defense arm is in fact critical to Israel’s defense and security. In the face of murderous regimes like the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, and a reign of terrorism from Palestinian suicide bombers, tunnels and homemade rockets targeting civilians,” wrote ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt in  a letter to the paper.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Israel’s  Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer denounced an article published in The New York Times last week which said that the Israel Defense Forces’ research and development efforts, which have proven crucial in Israel’s battle against the coronavirus, are predominately dedicated to devising ways to counter Israel’s enemies.

The article, which is titled “Israeli Army’s Idea Lab Aims at a New Target’’, wrote in a roundup of what the start-up nation’s entrepreneurs and defense industry are doing in  areas such as testing,  tracking and telemedicine, ‘’The Israeli Defense Ministry’s research-and-development arm is best known for pioneering cutting-edge ways to kill people and blow things up, with stealth tanks and sniper drones among its more lethal recent projects. But its latest mission is lifesaving….”

Israel’s Ambassador Ron Dermer said : “The New York Times, which buried the Holocaust, Is best known for pioneering ways to libel and demonize the Jewish State. Now it is doing the same.” He was referring to criticism in the past that the newspaper, and others, failed to recognize and publicize the plight of European Jewry during World War II.

Last year, Dermer called The New York Times a “cesspool of hostility towards Israel” after it published a caricature of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the paper has since acknowledged was anti-Semitic and for which it later apologized.

The Anti-Defamation League also condemned The New York Times over the article, saying that the paper used “sensationalist, degrading and demonizing language.”

“The Israeli Defense Ministry’s research and defense arm is in fact critical to Israel’s defense and security. In the face of murderous regimes like the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, and a reign of terrorism from Palestinian suicide bombers, tunnels and homemade rockets targeting civilians,” wrote ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt in  a letter to the paper.

“Israel’s military has unfortunately had no choice but to innovate again and again over the years to protect its people from harm,” he added

“This gratuitous opener not only diverts attention from this unique story, but also seems to call into question Israel’s legitimate defense needs. The Times can do better,” he wrote.