US Journalist Carlson: Israel has destroyed the United States, Taken Control of its Political System
Sudanhorizon- Agencies
Conservative American journalist Tucker Carlson has strongly criticized Israel, accusing it of controlling the American political system and “destroying” the United States.
Carlson considered the war with Iran a turning point that prompted him to break his silence on Israeli policies after three decades of avoiding the subject.
In an interview with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism magazine, he said that he did not consider Israel a country of importance from the perspective of American interests, despite visiting it several times for work and tourism and his admiration for Jerusalem.
He added: “I visited Israel several times, both for work and as a visitor. I love Jerusalem; it’s an amazing city, but I’m not interested in Israel. I don’t think it’s important as a country from an American perspective. It’s not in our hemisphere, and it doesn’t have the resources. So I didn’t care about it. But when you start taking control of my political system and destroying my country, then I have a right to care. And now I do care.”
Carlson considered this stance a radical shift in his journalistic career, revealing that for nearly 30 years he had deliberately avoided criticizing Israel due to what he described as an “unwritten rule” linking criticism of Israel to anti-Semitism. He emphasized that he hadn’t wanted to delve into this issue because he is “not anti-Semitic.”
He said the turning point came with the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, which he believes was not aimed at the Iranian nuclear program, but rather was “the first shot in an Israeli-led effort to change the regime in Tehran,” something he saw as contradicting the promises that brought US President Donald Trump to the White House.
He added that since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House at the beginning of Trump’s second term, he felt that the US administration was beginning to squander its political capital “for the benefit of another country,” which prompted him to publicly oppose this course.
Carlson accused Israel of pushing for a confrontation with Iran, saying he had repeatedly warned Trump against engaging in war, arguing that the real objective was not the Iranian nuclear program, but rather regime change in Tehran.
He also criticized what he described as the influence exerted by pro-Israel figures and lobbying groups within the United States, saying that the people most influential on Trump in this matter were major donors, including businessman John Paulson, Miriam Adelson, and News Corp owner Rupert Murdoch, who he said was calling Trump “three or four times a day” to encourage him to attack Iran.
Carlson argued that Israel miscalculated strategically, saying it believed it would become the dominant power in the Middle East, but the war’s outcome was the opposite of its expectations. He added, “Imagine it from Israel’s perspective: you think you’re going to be the dominant power in the region, and then three months later Iran becomes a global power. It’s a real nightmare.”
He added that Israel “doesn’t even have the capacity to conduct diplomacy,” criticizing its reliance on military force and security operations instead of political solutions. He considered this to have caused it strategic damage.
In a related context, Carlson said he had been aware for years of what he described as the “apartheid system” within Israel, and that this had bothered him for nearly two decades, but he hadn’t made it a central issue in his journalistic work. He emphasized that the recent war had prompted him to change his stance and speak publicly about Israeli policies.
He also revealed meetings he had with Trump at the White House before the outbreak of the war, during which he said he warned him three times that any attempt at regime change in Iran would not lead to the establishment of a pro-Western democratic government, but rather would create a long-term crisis. He added that he didn’t understand why the American president pursued this course despite being aware of its risks.
Carlson concluded the interview by calling for the establishment of a third political party in the United States, arguing that the American political system had become closer to a “one-party state,” and that voters who had voted for Trump hoping to end foreign wars had found themselves facing a policy that, in his words, adopted a different approach than what they had been promised.
Shortlink: https://sudanhorizon.com/?p=15494