During a recent appearance on Tucker Carlson Show, American journalist and SiriusXM podcaster Megyn Kelly questioned the pro-Israel narratives she previously upheld during her career as a host on Fox News, saying she now believes much of the messaging she received was "spoon-fed" without room for dissent.
Kelly and commentator Tucker Carlson were referencing the ongoing feud between zealous pro-Israel Jewish commentators like Ben Shapiro and critics of U.S. policy on Israel, like commentator Candace Owens.
Shapiro and other pro-Israel voices have been viciously smearing Kelly and Carlson for not publicly denouncing Owens and for interviewing right-wing commentator Nick Fuentes respectively.
Kelly defended her continued associations with Carlson and Owens, asserting that friendships should not be subject to political litmus tests, and declared she would "rather die" than denounce them despite criticism from pro-Israel advocates.
Kelly said during the interview that while she supports Israel’s right to defend itself after October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, she criticizes what she sees as excessive censorship of critics and the dominance of pro-Israel narratives in conservative media. She expressed frustration with "Israel firsters" demanding total loyalty, suggesting that unwavering support for Israel has become a non-negotiable demand in some conservative factions.
The SiriusXM host defended Owens' investigative reporting, on Charlie Kirk’s murder, calling the criticism against her "BS" and refusing to condemn her, saying, "You don’t like her? Don’t click on her face." She also praised some of Fuentes' views, calling him "very smart," while condemnig his unsavory views.
In a prior interview with Vanity Fair, Kelly cargued that Shapiro and Bari Weiss are "making antisemites" by pushing for censorship of criticism of Israel, arguing that their actions are fracturing the conservative movement.
In a separate development, Likud lawmaker Dan Illouz addressed the Knesset recently, labeling both Carlson and Owens as "new enemies of Israel," accusing them of promotion conspiracy theories and antisemitic rhetoric.
“We are used to enemies from outside. We fight terror tunnels of Hamas. We fight the ballistic missiles of Iran. But today I look at the West, our greatest ally, and I see a new enemy rising from within,” Illouz said, who is originally from Canada, in an English address. “I am speaking of a poison being sold to the American people as patriotism. I’m speaking of the intellectual vandalism of Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens.”
Illouz’s statement in the Knesset reflects growing concern among Israeli political figures about the influence of right-wing American commentators who are critical of the U.S-Israel alliance The comments also come as the Republican party has been roiled in recent months by debates over U.S policy in the Middle East.
“They claim to fight the woke left. They are no different than the woke left,” Illouz claimed. “The radical left tears down the statues of Thomas Jefferson, Tucker Carlson tears down the legacy of Winston Churchill. The radical left says Western civilization is evil, Candace Owens says the roots of our faith are demonic. It is the same sickness.”
In November, Amichai Chikli, the Israeli Diaspora minister, echoed Illouz’s concerns in an interview with the New York Post, telling the outlet that he was “far more concerned about antisemitism on the right than on the left.”
“One of the worst moments was when a popular conservative broadcaster called one of the most vile Holocaust deniers in America ‘one of the most honest historians.’ That legitimizes hate — it normalizes it,” Chikli told the New York Post, appearing to refer to Carlson’s past praise of the Holocaust historian Darryl Cooper.
Chikli also warned against the rising influence of Fuentes and Cooper among young Americans.
“Antisemitism has become fashionable for Gen Z,” Chikli continued. “They listen to podcasts, not professors. When people like Nick Fuentes or Darryl Cooper are treated as thought leaders, that’s dangerous. These are neo-Nazis.”
Critics like Carlson and Owens have argued that Israel has become a liability, with the U.S. fighting the Jewish nation's wars in the Middle East, which has cost lives and trillions of dollars, and stokes anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world.
Many conservatives have also criticized brazen interference in American domestic policy by Israeli leaders.
Asked if he's worried about appearing to interfere with American politics, Illouz said, “Defending the alliance between America and Israel is not interfering,” and claimed that many conservatives "know that Candace and Tucker are a threat to America.”
