"Israelis see themselves as victims": The sentence the New York Times was forced to delete

The New York Times published a rare editor's note and removed a controversial sentence from an article about the Israeli response to the film "No Other Land." The original sentence stated that "Israelis still largely see themselves as victims of October 7," sparking outrage on social media. The newspaper apologized and clarified it was an editorial error.

The New York Times found itself again in the eye of a storm this week after publishing a rare editor's note apologizing for a controversial sentence. The sentence was included in an article about the Israeli response to the release of the documentary "No Other Land," and implied that the status of Israelis as victims of the October 7 massacre is a matter of subjective perception. The original version of the article contained the sentence "Israelis still largely see themselves as victims of October 7." The phrasing sparked widespread outrage on social media and in media outlets, with accusations that the newspaper was downplaying the scale of the massacre. Following the criticism, the sentence was removed and replaced with an official clarification: "Due to an editing error, an early version of the article included a statement intended to convey Israelis' perception of the government's military response to the massacre, but mistakenly implied that the experience of Israelis as victims of terrorism is a matter of perception. The sentence has been removed from the article." The controversy comes amid sharp criticism surrounding the film "No Other Land" and the newspaper's coverage of the war.