Ben Shapiro's attack on Tucker Carlson over antisemitism
A fight inside the American right over Israel is getting sharper, and it is bad news for the pro-Israel wing's ability to police who counts as antisemitic.
- Ben Shapiro's argument that saying "Israel runs US foreign policy" is a conspiracy theory drew a counterattack that his own examples undercut him.
- Shapiro said that if Israel truly controlled Washington there would be 200,000 US troops in Tehran — a war almost no Americans want.
- Critics on the right say the antisemitism label is being stretched to shield Israel from criticism of Gaza, where tens of thousands are dead and homes are destroyed.
- Trump banning CNN, Politico and MS Now from the White House got a shrug from Shapiro, which opponents call a free-speech double standard.
- The older split is over money too: roughly $20 trillion spent on foreign wars since the 1990s, while the same voices attack spending at home.
Outlook: Expect the right's civil war over Israel, war spending and who gets called antisemitic to keep widening rather than settle.