The New York Times (NYT) published an article on Thursday about how Israel is employing various research teams, including the Defense Ministry’s, to find possible cures for coronavirus by presenting it as being “best known for pioneering cutting-edge ways to kill people and blow things up. Now it is turning to saving lives.”

The provocative article caused an uproar on Twitter, with a variety of users claiming the tweet was not at all related to what the story is about.

Every country’s Defense Ministry is engaged in acts of war and creating new weapons, so presenting Israel’s effort to find a cure for COVID-19 via this prism is considered controversial.     
The conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations called on Friday on the NYT to remove the tweet.

“We call on the New York Times to delete and explain it’s outrageous tweet disparaging Israel and apologize immediately,” the Conference of Presidents tweeted on Friday. “The anti-Israel bias expressed in this rhetoric misrepresents the Jewish State’s research & development for the good of all nations as we collectively combat COVID-19,” the umbrella organization added.

Israeli Ambassador in Washington, Ron Dermer, tweeted as well. “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,” the Ambassador wrote.

Former Ambassador to the US, Danny Ayalon, tweeted that “the goal of the IDF has ALWAYS been to save lives. That’s why it was created in the first place.”

“That’s why its soldiers constantly go out of their way to minimize civilian casualties. That’s why its medical team is working on a cure to the coronavirus,” Ayalon added.

While the original tweet hasn’t been deleted as of writing, the New York Times shared the story again, with a different tweet. “The latest mission for the Israeli Defense Ministry’s research-and-development team is a high-speed effort to unleash some of the most advanced technologies against Covid-19,” the new tweet reads.