Tucker Carlson Providing ‘Leading Platform’ for Jew-Hatred, Says Israel Combating Antisemitism Minister

Tucker Carlson. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect

Chikli’s statement came after Carlson and guest Jeffrey Sachs gave credence to the idea that Israel ‘controls’ US foreign policy, among other controversial comments.

By Corey Walker, The Algemeiner

US media personality Tucker Carlson is currently providing the “leading platform” for Jew-hatred, according to Israel’s minister of diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, Amichai Chikli.

“Congratulations to Tucker Carlson for becoming the leading platform for fringe Holocaust deniers, conspiracy theorists, and blood libel enthusiasts who oppose the State of Israel,” Chikli posted on social media on Tuesday.

Chikli’s comment came one day after Carlson, a right-wing commentator and former Fox News host, hosted economist Jeffrey Sachs for a lengthy interview in which both men gave credence to the antisemitic idea that Israel “controls” US foreign policy, among other controversial comments.

During the interview, Sachs floated the notion that former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s recently toppled regime was largely harmless and that the US opposed the authoritarian ruler “on behalf of Israel.” Sachs argued that American foreign policy hawks and the Israeli government have embarked on a joint mission to “remake the Middle East.”

“And so what happened last week in Syria was the culmination of a long-term effort by Israel to reshape the Middle East in its image,” Sachs said, claiming that Assad’s fall was largely orchestrated by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) because “Israel has run American foreign policy in the Middle East for 30 years.”

Sachs continued rattling off a series of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories regarding Israel. He suggested that Israel also encouraged America to start the Iraq War in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and asserted that the Jewish state has abandoned the concept of “land for peace,” which Sachs claimed would yield the establishment of a Palestinian state. He also said that Israel has masterminded a plan to push the US into a military confrontation with Iran

Sachs, an economist with an extensive track-record of anti-Israel rhetoric, criticized the former Obama administration’s antagonism toward the Syrian government, claiming that the country was not a “threat” to US interests. He stated that America only implemented anti-Assad policies to benefit Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s goal to “control the Palestinian people” and prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

“Syria was a normal, functioning country at the time, despite whatever you read, whatever propaganda,” Sachs said.

Assad, who was closely allied with Iran and Russia, was widely considered to be one of the world’s most brutal and ruthless dictators. He has been accused of killing civilians in chemical attacks, forcing Syrians into notoriously brutal prisons on specious charges, and dropping indiscriminate bombs on the county’s population.

On Monday, the head of a US-based Syrian advocacy organization said that a mass grave outside of Damascus contained the bodies of at least 100,000 people killed by Assad’s former government.

Assad fled the capital of Damascus earlier this month as a coalition of rebel groups stormed the capital, ending his family’s five-decade rule.

During Monday’s interview on Carlson’s eponymous show on social media, Sachs claimed that Israel provokes wars against any neighboring government that supports the Palestinian people, suggesting that Jerusalem has attempted to thwart pro-Palestinian governments because they hinder the Jewish state’s alleged goal of territorial expansion.

Sachs stated that “[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s crazy ambition” is to complete the establishment of “greater Israel,” which he described as at the bare minimum controlling or annexing the West Bank, Gaza, and Golan Heights and in a more extreme version seizing all the territory from the Nile to the Euphrates River.

“This greater Israel idea says ‘we can’t make peace with the Palestinians. So anyone that supports the Palestinians is by definition a mortal threat to us.’ And when you have a mortal threat, you must destroy it.”

Sachs has previously claimed that US lawmakers are influenced by a so-called “Israel lobby” and repeatedly blamed Israel and the United States for implementing “crushing sanctions” on the Assad regime and attempting to “seize” Syrian oil.

Beyond Israel, Sachs has rationalized Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, claiming that the prospect of NATO expansion into Ukraine threatened Russia’s safety. To resolve the conflict, Sachs has suggested that Ukraine surrender wide swaths of its territory to Russia in exchange for peace.

Since his 2023 ouster from Fox News, Carlson has adopted a pattern of platforming guests on his podcast deeply hostile to Israel who have also pushed antisemitic conspiracy theories. Carlson drew outrage in September when he hosted a so-called “historian” who downplayed the horrors of the Holocaust and pushed Nazi talking points about World War II.

Carlson also sparked backlash last year after he compared Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky, who is Jewish, to a “rat” and asserted that he “persecutes Christians.”