Likud Politician Declares War on Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens as America Wakes Up to Israeli Overreach

Standing before the Knesset podium on January 5, 2026, Dan Illouz delivered a warning that reverberated across the Atlantic. The Canadian-born Likud member of parliament addressed his colleagues not in Hebrew, but in English, ensuring his message would directly reach American ears.

“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 declared, according to The Jewish Telegraph Agency. “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.”

Since the October 7, 2023 attacks against Israel, Carlson and Owens have been some of the most vocal critics of Israel on the American Right. Prior to their pivot towards anti-Israeli discourse, Carlson and Owens were mainstays of conservative media and did not directly address matters of Israeli influence. However, that changed once Israel embarked on an industrial-scale genocide in Gaza.

Illouz’s speech marked an extraordinary moment. A member of Israel’s governing coalition was publicly identifying American conservative media figures as threats to the alliance between Tel Aviv and Washington. For Illouz, the battle against what he sees as creeping antisemitism on the American right represents more than political posturing. Such a groundswell of opposition to the United States’ tight relationship with Israel could potentially jeopardize this arrangement should it continue to grow — a nightmare scenario for world Jewry.

Illouz, like many other Jewish leaders, are catching on to the rising anti-Israel sentiments on the Left and Right. “They claim to fight the woke left. They are no different than the woke left,” Illouz stated. “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.”

His critique of Carlson focused on the former Fox News host’s interview with historian Darryl Cooper, who characterized the Holocaust in terms that outraged Jewish groups. According to Jewish Insider, Illouz told the Knesset that Carlson “nods along when he’s told the Holocaust was a logistical error, a mistake by a camp that was unprepared. This is madness. He spits on the graves of American soldiers who stormed Normandy… Why? To erase the line between good and evil.”

Turning to Owens, whose YouTube channel boasts over 5.7 million subscribers, Illouz accused her of trafficking in ancient hatreds. “She spreads the sickest blood libels… claiming this state was founded by ‘pedophiles.’ She does not know history; she does not know the Bible. She only knows how to peddle hate,” he said, according to Jewish Insider.

The Israeli Knesset member invoked Jewish history to demonstrate the resilience of his people, “We are the people of eternity. We buried the pharaohs who enslaved us. We buried the Greeks who tried to ban our Torah. We buried the Romans who burned our temple. We danced on the ruins of the Third Reich. And we will be here long after your YouTube channels are forgotten dust,” he proclaimed.

When The Times of Israel asked whether he worried about interfering in American politics, Illouz dismissed the concern. “Defending the alliance between America and Israel is not interfering,” he responded. “I am in touch with many pro-Israel conservatives who know that Candace and Tucker are a threat to America as much as to Israel.”

Born on February 21, 1986, in Montreal to Moroccan Jewish parents, Dan Illouz grew up immersed in the traditions of North African Jewry. After graduating from McGill University Law School and earning a master’s degree in public policy from Hebrew University, Illouz made a life-altering decision at age 23. In 2009, he immigrated to Israel, immediately joining the Likud movement. “I was offered the American dream on a silver platter. I chose the Zionist dream and made Aliyah to Israel,” he stated.

He joined the Jerusalem City Council in March 2018 following another councillor’s resignation, won election in October 2018, and served until 2021 under a rotation agreement. Upon entering the Knesset, Illouz renounced his Canadian citizenship, describing it as “not a rejection of my past; it was a conscious act of commitment to Israel’s future.

For Illouz, the fight against Carlson and Owens cannot be separated from his territorial maximalism. His opposition to Palestinian statehood and his advocacy for West Bank annexation form the ideological foundation of his political identity.

“Our rights to the land of Israel include every centimeter of the Land of Israel, including Shchem [Nablus] and Hebron and areas without any Jew living there right now, including Ramallah,” Illouz stated in 2022.

He views this matter in existential terms. “The right to Tel Aviv comes from Judea and Samaria,” he emphasized, employing the biblical terminology for the West Bank favored by fanatic politicians of the Israeli Right.

In July 2024, Illouz delivered another English-language Knesset speech declaring categorical opposition to Palestinian sovereignty. “A Palestinian state is not just a bad idea—it’s a dangerous one, under any circumstances, but especially now. … There will be no Palestinian state. Not now. Not ever,” he stated.

Illouz is more than just talk. He introduced legislation to apply Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley, with an effective date of October 7, 2024, marking the one-year anniversary of the Hamas massacre. “A true victory will be possible only when the enemy feels that October 7 was a mistake, turning it into a day of mourning for them,” Illouz proclaimed.

In July 2025, the Knesset voted 71-13 for a non-binding resolution calling to annex the West Bank, which Illouz co-sponsored. “For the first time ever, the Knesset is expressing official support for the application of Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. The message from the plenum is clear: Judea and Samaria are not bargaining chips—they are the heart of our land,” he boasted.

Perhaps his most ambitious proposal came in February and March 2025 with the “Jerusalem Metropolitan Bill,” which would incorporate 29 West Bank settlements into a “Jerusalem Metropolis” under Israeli sovereignty. The settlements, including Ma’ale Adumim, Givat Ze’ev, Efrat, and Beitar Illit, house over 180,000 settlers. “Israel has to act according to its interests and without fear. This law is a major step towards full sovereignty [over the West Bank],” Illouz asserted. 

This territorial maximalism vision  explains why Illouz views Carlson and Owens as existential threats. If American conservative support for Israel erodes, his vision of Greater Israel becomes politically untenable. The alliance with Washington provides diplomatic cover and material support for settlement expansion and potential annexation.

Illouz’s January 2026 speech came amid broader Israeli concerns about antisemitism on the American right. In November 2025, Israeli Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli told the New York Post that he was “far more concerned about antisemitism on the right than on the left.”

Chikli, himself a right-wing Jew who has cultivated relationships with European parties of the Zio-Populist Right, specifically referenced Carlson’s praise of historian Darryl Cooper. “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 said to the New York Post. Chikli warned against the rising influence of figures like Nick Fuentes and Cooper among young Americans. “Antisemitism has become fashionable for Gen Z,” he 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.” In October 2024, Carlson hosted Fuentes on his platform, igniting outrage from Jewish conservatives who warned of the growing reach of antisemitic voices.

Candace Owens responded to Illouz’s speech by claiming “The Likud party in Israel just named me and Tucker Carlson as enemies that must be fought.”  Illouz clarified his position, stating “This is a civilizational battle of ideas. Any insinuation of violence is just a desperate silencing tactic.”

Illouz’s relationship with Donald Trump reveals the complexity of his position. When Trump stated in September 2025 that he would not allow Israel to annex Judea and Samaria, Illouz responded assertively. “No international entity, even a great and cherished ally, can dictate to us how to treat our land,” he declared.

Yet by January 2025, when opposing an annexation bill for the Jordan Valley, Illouz adopted pragmatism. “With President Trump reelected, we have a historic opportunity to advance Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, but it must be done wisely. Rushing ahead with symbolic legislation that has no chance of progressing beyond a preliminary reading only weakens our cause,” he affirmed. In this case, Illouz probably saw Trump as a Judeo-accelerationist president, who overall advances Jewish interests with enthusiasm despite minor deviations, and opted to soften his rhetoric.

For Dan Illouz, the confrontation with Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens represents more than a media spat. It embodies a potential threat to him and his ilk’s ambitions to annex all the West Bank. Recent findings from the Yale Youth Poll demonstrate that a generational realignment progresses steadily, transcending partisan boundaries and increasingly positioning Israel contrary to youth sentiment.

Among voters ages 18 to 22, 30 percent concurred that American Jews maintain greater loyalty to Israel than to the United States. 27 percent agreed that American Jews possess excessive influence. Each metric surpasses national averages considerably.

The survey additionally exposed pervasive confusion surrounding elite discourse regulation. Among all voters, 56 percent expressed uncertainty whether the phrase “globalize the intifada” constitutes antisemitism. A plurality of 47 percent determined that characterizing Gaza’s situation as genocide does not qualify as antisemitic.

The Yale data exists not in isolation but aligns with accumulating polling documenting identical generational upheaval. A University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll discovered that while 52 percent of Republicans aged 35 and older sympathize predominantly with Israel, merely 24 percent of Republicans ages 18 to 34 share this orientation. Regarding Gaza hostilities, 52 percent of older Republicans consider Israeli actions justified, compared to only 22 percent of younger Republicans.

Analysis compiled by RealClearPolling reinforces these patterns. Among Republicans under 50, unfavorable assessments of Israel surged from 35 percent in 2022 to 50 percent in 2025. Older Republicans shifted minimally. Identical University of Maryland research indicates that 41 percent of Americans consider Israeli military operations in Gaza genocidal or analogous to genocide, including 14 percent of Republicans. 21 percent characterize the Trump administration’s Israel-Palestine policy as excessively pro-Israel, while 57 percent maintain American support has facilitated Israeli war crimes.

Even evangelical Republicans no longer prove immune. While 69 percent of older evangelicals sympathize predominantly with Israel, that figure plummets to 32 percent among younger evangelicals, with merely 36 percent considering Israeli actions in Gaza justified. A September 2025 AtlasIntel poll determined that only 30 percent of Americans endorse financial assistance to Israel, representing a dramatic departure from Washington’s bipartisan conventions.

Such anti-Israel sentiments will likely grow stronger as conservative influencers such as Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens gain further popularity among the American public. This does not augur well for Illouz’s vision of Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.

When that conservative movement begins questioning support for Israel, when influential voices like Carlson and Owens gain traction with antisemitic rhetoric, Illouz sees the foundation of his Greater Israel project threatened. The clock is ticking against Illouz, who sweats bullets knowing Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens could persuade millions of fed-up Americans to finally reject Israel’s grip over the American political system.