It’s Noon in Israel: When Tucker Asked to Meet Bibi
Also, the road to Tehran runs through Beirut, Israel's Rocky triumphs in two rounds, and more.
(TuckerCarlson/YouTube)
It’s Sunday, February 22, and Tucker Carlson has released his interview with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, confronting him on “America’s Toxic Relationship With Israel.” Trump allegedly ordered Carlson to stop attacking Jews, Israel and the non-anti-Semitic wing of the Republican coalition, yet the video is exactly what you would expect.
After watching the interview, I finally believe one of Tucker’s assertions, namely that he was attacked by demons (yes, he actually said that). Judging by the endless lies and distortions, it seems like the demons took a liking to him and decided to stay.
In some ways, it’s amazing. I’ve never seen so much anti-Semitic propaganda framed as a question. For two hours, Tucker seamlessly jumps between “just asking questions” about Israel and Jews, accusing Huckabee of dual loyalty and retreating into the cover of being a simple, patriotic American Christian when his lies are exposed.
Let’s run through some of the highlights:
Israel is responsible for the U.S. invasion of Iraq; therefore, every casualty in Iraq is Israel’s fault. Compelling—except then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned Washington it was a bad idea and suggested focusing on Iran instead.
Israel controls U.S. foreign policy—a claim Carlson awkwardly tried to square with his insistence that Donald Trump exercises absolute authority.
Israel permits legal abortion; therefore, how can Mike Huckabee allow America to support it?
Israel is sheltering sex offenders, specifically one Tom Alexanderovitch, whose case he misrepresented, which led into the flatly false claim that President Isaac Herzog visited Epstein’s island—an allegation Carlson later publicly apologized for after legal threats.
Modern Jews are not the Jews of the Bible, and modern Israelis—whom he heavily implied are all from Eastern Europe—therefore have no connection to the land.
His guest Anthony Aguilar—a disgruntled employee of GHF and a proven liar regarding Israel’s conduct in Gaza—was not lying or biased.
And finally, the inevitable charge: Israel persecutes Christians.
The last claim was particularly awkward, as he lobbed accusation after accusation while Huckabee calmly knocked them down, all the while Carlson passively acknowledging the truth with a look of smug bemusement.
It begs the question: Besides the demonic voice I imagine is constantly screaming in his head, why did Carlson do this?
Well, some sources claim that this was an Arab-sponsored character assassination of Huckabee, an assertion bolstered by Carlson posting a heavily edited video implying that Huckabee believes Israel conquering the whole region would be “fine.” At which point the Saudi Foreign Ministry jumped to condemn what Huckabee had not actually said, only to be joined by Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine.
The international media have certainly taken the bait. Instead of headlines like “Carlson Alleges Jews Are Fake” or “Tucker Makes False Pedophilia Claim About Israeli President,” we are getting front pages plastered with “Huckabee Causes Diplomatic Incident.”
But the plot thickens. According to Yoram Hazony, an Israeli scholar well connected to the Republican leadership, Carlson reached out to him after Trump warned him to stop attacking Jews in January, asking for “practical steps” he could take to change the perception that he is anti-Semitic. Apparently, Carlson wanted to speak at the Israeli National Conservatism Conference and interview Benjamin Netanyahu; neither, Hazony found to be feasible.
Hazony responded to the latter prospect that it wouldn’t “serve any interest I’m aware of.” But Tucker likes people with power; he may have simply wanted to meet the man he believes has been singlehandedly controlling U.S. foreign policy for the past 30 years.
Except we all know he doesn’t believe that when not in front of a camera.
The funniest part of Hazony’s testimony is Tucker’s apparent confusion at being labeled an anti-Semite. Perhaps it is because only creatures with souls appear in mirrors.
Still, it seems that Tucker isn’t listening to the man he frames as his patron, Trump. If that interview was his attempt at being less anti-Semitic, then I look forward to his attempt to eat less sugar and the diabetic coma that will follow.
Israeli Air Force fighter jets fly over the funeral ceremony for Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, February 23, 2025. (IDF)
Over the weekend, the IDF struck Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, including what a Saudi outlet described as a high-level commanders’ meeting. Is this a prelude to an Iran strike?
Before October 7, the Islamic Republic’s most effective air defense wasn’t its Russian surface-to-air systems or Chinese radar—it was Lebanese rockets. The former threatened aircraft; the latter threatened thousands of Israeli civilians. Hezbollah was the crown jewel of Iran’s “ring of fire,” receiving billions in funding to deter Israeli action and, ultimately, serving as the primary weapon in the destruction of the “Little Satan.”
Then came October 7 and Hezbollah’s mistake. It joined the fight, but only halfheartedly. A year passed. Their pagers exploded, then their walkie-talkies. The IAF dropped more than a ton of munitions on Hassan Nasrallah in less than 90 seconds and the IDF invaded southern Lebanon. Then came a ceasefire, followed by more than a year of sustained Israeli strikes.
On the eve of the June war, Israel launched another intense wave of attacks, effectively as a warning. When the moment came for Iran’s investment to pay dividends, Hezbollah largely watched from the sidelines as Iran absorbed the blows.
It is impossible to imagine the June war unfolding as it did without Hezbollah being effectively removed from the equation.
This weekend’s strikes may be serving as a suggestion to Hezbollah to repeat its response from June while degrading their ability to take the other path.
Iran, for its part, appears to be preparing for war. According to The New York Times, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has transferred his authority to his senior adviser Ali Larijani, sidelining President Masoud Pezeshkian.
It reveals a strange duality in Khamenei. Dictators rarely display the humility or trust required to empower potential successors. Yet the decision to prepare for war and even martyrdom rather than compromise fits a classic pattern of dictator syndrome.
Given Israel’s track record, neither Larijani nor any of the other contingency appointees Khamenei reportedly installed in key positions can feel safe.
Tehran has drawn up a succession menu. The question is whether Israel and the United States intend to start making their selections.
“Ahavat Hashem” Gordon after his victory against Ali Konyuncu. (@ahavat_goldenboy/Instagram)
Who doesn’t love a good sports movie? On Saturday night, the Muay Thai bout between “Ahavat Hashem” (Love of God) Gordon—also known as “Golden Boy”—and Turkish anti-Israel fighter Ali Konyuncu delivered that Rocky fix we all enjoy.
The 19-year-old Gordon grew up in the Samarian settlement of Shilo with six brothers. At age 4, he entered the world of professional sports. At age 7, he hitchhiked to Jerusalem to train seriously, and at age 16, he left school and moved to Thailand to become a master. After winning the World Junior Kickboxing Championship (2022) and a bronze medal at the World Under-23 Championship (2023), he found himself facing Konyuncu in Lithuania last night.
There was the obligatory weigh-in confrontation. Konyuncu lunged at Gordon’s neck before being restrained. Both men strained against the handlers gripping their arms. Even half-restrained, Konyuncu managed to fire off a kick.
Finally, on the day of the match, “Ahavat Hashem” walked into the arena to the sound of an Israeli song blasting through the speakers, wrapped in the blue and white flag, a kippa fixed to his head. The crowd roared.
The problem with this movie is that the ending was anticlimactic. After just two rounds, Gordon finished both the round and Konyuncu with a brutal strike to the shin. The Turkish fighter hit the canvas, blood trickling from his forehead, tears visible as he made his way back to his corner.
The judges made the call to end the fight there, awarding the victory to Gordon, securing his 11-0 record.
However much I might have preferred a Rocky IV ending—the Turks slowly cheering for the Israeli—this was enough. Seeing “Love of G-d” Gordon standing there with a kippa on his head and an Israeli flag over his shoulders was more than enough for me and all of Israel to be proud of.
Former hostages Matan Zangauker, Ilana Gershovsky and Segev Kalfon joined 5,000 Jewish teens from 486 cities in Times Square for the largest gathering of Jewish teenagers in the world.
The annual CTeen event went ahead despite rising antisemitism in New York, drawing a 450-strong delegation from CTeen Israel led by Rabbi Moshe and Bracha Shilat. On stage, Rabbi Shilat joined the former captives as the crowd sang the classic song “Am Yisrael Chai.”
An emotional moment came when Kalfon took the microphone to recite one of the most fundamental Jewish prayers. “I wanted to say ‘Shema Yisrael’ at the Hamas ceremony,” he said, “but it was canceled, so I am saying it now before the entire world.”
Gershovsky summarized the atmosphere well, “No one will bring us down. Ever.”
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My husband and I WERE big fans of Tucker’s when he was on Fox News. When he was let go, we felt bad for him and supported him by subscribing. Our subscription is up in May, but I cancelled it earlier this month. I just couldn’t take his “anti-antisemitism” that is really just antisemitism masked in his feigning ignorance to ask dumb, hurtful antisemitism questions.
Between Tucker and Nick Fuentes, the right has an antisemitic problem and I’m not sure how that happened OR why anyone listens to it, at this point. Perhaps, when Tucker interviewed Fuentes, he always intended to do a softball interview to show off how ‘wonderful’ Fuentes was because he admired Hitler so much.
Tucker will need to run out of steam and/or subscribers to change his stance. If even President Trump cannot dissuade him from his antisemitism rhetoric, Tucker will just need to be a turn-off to his subscribers, like me, for him to change. I hope Tucker can drop this ‘bone’ and come to his senses. We shall see.
"The funniest part of Hazony’s testimony is Tucker’s apparent confusion at being labeled an anti-Semite. Perhaps it is because only creatures with souls appear in mirrors." One of the greatest lines ever!!!