Tucker Carlson: Is Criticism of Israel Being Labeled ‘Anti-Semitism’?

A Jewish civil rights group has labeled political commentator and journalist Tucker Carlson “Anti-Semite of the Year,” citing his criticism of Israel’s war on Gaza and his 2025 interviews with several controversial figures, including white supremacist Nick Fuentes.

StopAntisemitism announced the label on Sunday, accusing Carlson of antagonism toward Israel after he used his podcast and other media platforms to condemn the war and question the political influence of pro-Israel lobbying groups in Washington.

Carlson has criticized “Christian Zionists” within the U.S. right for their support of Israel and has emerged as one of the leading right-wing voices denouncing Israel’s influence on American politics, particularly since Israel began its war on Gaza in 2023.

“By an overwhelming vote margin, Tucker Carlson has been named StopAntisemitism’s 2025 Antisemite of the Year,” StopAntisemitism founder and executive director Liora Rez told The New York Post.

“Carlson’s divisive, hateful, and dangerous rhetoric and his repeated glowing interviews with bigots and Hitler apologists have made him the most reviled Jew-hater over the last 12 months,” Rez added.

Tucker Carlson Criticism Sparks Debate Over ‘Anti-Semitism’

In October, StopAntisemitism had named Carlson its “Antisemite of the Week” before the Fuentes controversy. “He uses his platform of millions to normalize antisemitism, from downplaying white supremacy to promoting the antisemitic ‘great replacement theory,’ turning dog whistles into a megaphone for hate,” the group said then.

“When influential figures normalize antisemitic narratives, it contributes to a climate where threats, harassment, and violence against Jews become more and more common,” Rez told the Post.

“Antisemitism is surging in the U.S. and abroad, and it is increasingly driven by people with powerful platforms… not just by fringe extremists,” Rez added.

Moreover, the group has alleged that Carlson singled out prominent pro-Israel commentator Ben Shapiro, accusing him of putting Israel first at a time when the United States is grappling with escalating domestic challenges.

Who Is Tucker Carlson?

Carlson, 56, has long been an agitator on the right and is known for his firebrand commentary on politics and culture.

He has defended Russian President Vladimir Putin and, in February 2024, became the first Western journalist to interview him following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He has repeatedly adjusted his stance, moving from economic libertarianism to protectionism, and from backing the Iraq War to adopting a more skeptical view of foreign intervention.

In recent months, Carlson released a series of documentaries advancing claims of a massive September 11, 2001, “cover-up,” and argued that Israel “stands out” as a foreign nation that may have had prior knowledge of the attacks.

Tucker Carlson’s Remarks on Israel’s Genocide in Gaza

Beyond Fuentes, Carlson previously interviewed a number of other figures this year whose views drew objections from the Jewish civil rights group, including Palestinian pastor Munther Isaac, who refers to Israel as a “terrorist entity.”

He also hosted Holocaust revisionist Darryl Cooper, who asserted that the Nazis had no intention of killing Jews and placed the blame for World War II on British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

He has further criticized Christian Zionism, describing it as a major force shaping unconditional U.S. backing for Israel. “The single biggest threat to Christianity in this country [US] is Christian Zionism,” he said, accusing its adherents of treating Israel’s founding and military dominance as a biblical mandate. “They’re not Christians; they’re heretics,” he added.

Meanwhile, Carlson appeared on the podcast This Past Weekend with comedian Theo Von, where Carlson sharply criticized evangelical leaders for backing Israel’s war in Gaza. He accused well-known Christian figures of twisting religious doctrine to defend Israeli actions that he said have resulted in the deaths of Christian civilians.

Last June, Carlson criticized the Trump administration’s bombing of Iran, pressing for the U.S. military to stay out of the fight.

He also accused Trump of being “complicit in the act of war" in a newsletter he said could be his last before "all-out war" breaks out, as the conflict between Israel and Iran potentially widens.

A month earlier, Carlson voiced unease over Trump’s business ventures in the Middle East, saying “it seems like corruption” after his guest, Shawn Ryan, expressed concern about new Trump properties in the region.

Furthermore, Carlson has questioned the influence Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is sought by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, holds over U.S. officials, he said in September during an interview with journalist Glenn Greenwald. “[Netanyahu] is running around, this is a fact..., the Middle East, his region and his own country and telling people point blank, just stating it, ‘I control the United States. I control Donald Trump.’”

In a recent episode of The Tucker Carlson Show, Carlson broadcast footage he filmed during his visit to Doha inside Qatari facilities hosting displaced Palestinians from Gaza. He also issued some of his strongest condemnations yet, describing Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide.

He said that he and his team “had to hold back tears” as they witnessed what he described as “the cruelty of the evil Israeli regime,” reflected in the severe injuries of children. “Disfigured kids with their limbs blown off, and mangled faces. The real crime is that the supporters of this atrocity are justifying it,” Carlson said.

He added that Israel shot “dozens and dozens of journalists so that no one can film what’s happening.”

Tucker Carlson’s Interview With Far-right Nick Fuentes Divides Conservatives

In late October, the former Fox News host conducted an interview with Fuentes in which the guest launched attacks on what he called “organized Jewry in America,” emphasized the need to be “pro-white,” and described himself as an admirer of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, who persecuted Russian Jews.

On the podcast, Carlson criticized Republicans such as Senator Ted Cruz, former President George W. Bush, and Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, labeling them “Christian Zionists” who had been “seized by this brain virus.” “I dislike them more than anybody,” said Carlson.

Senator Ted Cruz, former President George W. Bush, and the ambassador to Israel said to the Republican Jewish Coalition after the podcast aired: “Now is a time for choosing. Now is a time for courage … If you sit there with someone who says Adolf Hitler was very, very cool and their mission is to combat and defeat ‘global Jewry,’ and you say nothing, then you are a coward, and you are complicit in that evil.”

Cruz also said he had seen more anti-Semitism on the right in the last six months than he had seen in his entire life, claiming it was a “poison” and that the party and the country were “facing an existential crisis.”

Moreover, Cruz defended Huckabee in his own post. The former governor “is a pastor and a patriot who loves America, loves Israel, and loves Jesus. I’m proud to be in his company,” Cruz said.

Meanwhile, Carlson’s decision to give Fuentes a platform provoked significant outrage among American conservatives, with Florida Republican Rep. Randy Fine—who calls himself “the Hebrew Hammer”—labeling Carlson “the most dangerous antisemite in America” and accusing him of assuming “the mantle of leader of a modern-day Hitler Youth.”

Heritage Foundation Faces Internal Rift Over Anti-Semitism Controversy

In the wake of the controversy, the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation faced accusations of trying to distance itself from Carlson by removing his name from an online donation page it manages.

Its president, Kevin Roberts, subsequently defended him in a video message, saying, “Christians can critique the state of Israel without being anti-Semitic. And, of course, anti-Semitism should be condemned.”

“Conservatives should feel no obligation to reflexively support any foreign government, no matter how loud the pressure becomes from the globalist class or from their mouthpieces in Washington,” he added.

Roberts’ remarks sparked additional backlash. It was then that senior members of the Heritage Foundation started resigning.

“No institution that hesitates to condemn antisemitism and hatred — or that gives a platform to those who spread them — can credibly claim to uphold the vision that once made the Heritage Foundation the world’s most respected conservative think tank,” Mr. McCullar, a real estate executive, told the NYT.

The Democratic minority leader in the U.S. Senate, Chuck Schumer, called for people aligned with the Heritage Foundation to “disavow this dangerous mainstreaming of these hateful ideologies.”

Emerging Republican Factions Split Over Support for Israel

The controversy surrounding the Fuentes interview emerges as Republicans grapple with how to address a series of allegedly anti-Semitic incidents within the party. Last October, POLITICO reported on a Telegram group chat where leaders of various Young Republican groups made jokes about the Holocaust and praised Adolf Hitler.

The following day, a staffer for Rep. Dave Taylor (R-Ohio) attended a virtual meeting with a Nazi symbol visible in the background.

POLITICO also reported on a separate group chat in which Paul Ingrassia, who was then Trump’s nominee to head the Office of Special Counsel at the Justice Department, stated that he has “a Nazi streak.” Ingrassia had previously attended a rally for Fuentes.

Meanwhile, several Young Republican chapters were disbanded, and members of the group either resigned or were dismissed from their positions in public office or employment. Capitol Police launched an investigation into the flag in Taylor’s office, and Ingrassia withdrew his nomination a few days later due to opposition from Senate Republicans.

The incidents have deeply split the GOP. Conservative commentator Mark Levin said Carlson is a “Nazi promoter” and a “profit-driven lunatic,” while pro-Israel conservative podcast host Ben Shapiro accused him of being a “super spreader” of bad ideas and an “intellectual coward.”

‘Americafest 2025’ Exposes Intensifying Conservative Ideological Splits

On Thursday, conservative figures Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson appeared on stage at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, where they traded pointed remarks on U.S. support for Israel, bigotry, free speech, and other related topics. Shapiro, a vocal supporter of Israel, opened the exchange by criticizing Carlson over his interview with white nationalist Nick Fuentes last October.

The fellow right-wing Jewish commentator was far less sympathetic, criticizing Fuentes at last week’s Turning Point USA AmericaFest by labeling him a “Hitler apologist, Nazi-loving, anti-American piece of refuse” and saying Carlson had “built Nick Fuentes up.” He strongly condemned Carlson for hosting the openly anti-Semitic Nick Fuentes on his podcast, describing it as “an act of moral imbecility.”

Like Shapiro, former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy devoted considerable attention to Carlson and his interview with Fuentes, citing several of Fuentes’s most provocative statements and saying they “have no place in this movement.”

However, Carlson denied accusations of anti-Semitism, asserting that it is wrong to hate people for their birth. He then downplayed the issue of anti-Jewish sentiment, claiming it is less widespread than prejudice against white men.

Meanwhile, former employee and top-rated podcast host Candace Owens has claimed that Israeli spies played a role in Charlie Kirk’s death and that he was betrayed by those close to him.

Owens also reacted to criticism from Shapiro by reaffirming her allegation that Israel was involved in Kirk’s assassination. “Ben only cares about Israel’s interests,” she wrote on X. “So Israel is involved.”

Shapiro’s criticisms of Owens and Carlson highlight a growing divide within the Republican Party regarding Israel and its war on Gaza, as some younger conservatives question whether unwavering support for the country aligns with Trump’s “America First” agenda.

Carlson was asked by a young man if it was “America First” for lawmakers and the president to take money from the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC. “No,” Carlson said. “It’s just an obvious statement,” he added.

Criticism of Israel Labeled ‘Anti-Semitism’ to Suppress Dissent

In a November 13 Ynet interview, Dr. Mike Evans, founder of Jerusalem’s Friends of Zion Center, criticized Carlson for calling Christian Zionism a “dangerous heresy” and a "brain virus infecting the church," and warned that rhetoric like Carlson’s fuels anti-Semitism amid a global surge in anti-Jewish hostility.

He described Christian Zionism as deeply intertwined with Christian identity, noting that 750 million Christians worldwide identify as Zionists, and credited evangelicals with ensuring that President Donald Trump pursued pro-Israel policies.

Meanwhile, Liora Reznichenko, StopAntisemitism executive director, has openly stated that the organization deliberately targets critics of Israel, arguing that targeting those who criticize Israel is an effective means to combat anti-Semitism.

“The results speak for themselves,” Reznichenko said at a Jerusalem Post conference on Capitol Hill in December. “We will shine a light on you that, thanks to Google and SEO, will follow you for the rest of your life.”

Reznichenko has taken credit for the dismissal of at least 400 individuals due to the group’s online campaigns, which have focused on academics, activists, and media personalities.

“When you look for a job, when you look for a spouse, when you look for a nanny, when you look for anything, our work will always be documented,” she added.

Among Reznichenko’s targets is children’s educator Rachel Griffin Accurso, widely known as Ms. Rachel, who was honored by Glamour magazine as one of its 2025 “Women of the Year” for her contributions to early childhood education and her advocacy for children affected by war around the world.

StopAntisemitism has frequently targeted Accurso for sharing images of starving and injured children in Gaza with her 20 million-plus followers, even calling on U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to probe her for alleged foreign funding without providing evidence.

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