Gideon Levy in Haaretz: On Israel, Gaza and Palestine, Bigmouth Tucker Carlson Spoke Nothing but Truth

Tucker Carlson, left, during his interview with Channel 13's chief political analyst, Udi Segal.
Tucker Carlson, left, during his interview with Channel 13’s chief political analyst, Udi Segal. Credit: Screenshot

What was not true in the interview Tucker Carlson gave to Israel’s Channel 13? He told interviewer Udi Segal Segal that he was living in a country that had recently murdered thousands of children. What was wrong about that? It’s obvious that Israel ‘is not a democracy in any sense,’ as Carlson said

It’s been a long time since such an interview has been aired here: It contained only truths. There wasn’t one word that Tucker Carlson said in a conversation with Channel 13’s Udi Segal that wasn’t true. It was the distilled truth, a perfect mirror, which is why it evoked such a furor here.

The eloquent American media personality proposed an alternative agenda to Israeli media: Speak the truth; try it for once. Carlson’s truth is painful, shaming, oppressive, but it’s the truth. It was framed as “an interview with America’s big mouth,” with the “Israel-hating antisemite.” Social media screamed that he shouldn’t be interviewed. They were right. There is no place on Israeli TV networks for the truth, but Segal dared, regrettably with some redundant sanctimoniousness.

What was not true in what Carlson said? It’s obvious that Israelis have no right to talk about other terror regimes such as Iran. Tucker told Segal that he was living in a country that had recently murdered thousands of children. What was wrong about that? It’s obvious that Israel “is not a democracy in any sense” as Carlson said. “There are millions of people who live under Israeli control who cannot vote.”

What in hell was incorrect in this? Tucker said that Israel had murdered thousands of children, so why was he, who had called it genocide, to blame? What was antisemitic about this? Segal tried using the hackneyed excuse of “self-defense,” and Carlson reminded him that the murder of babies has nothing to do with that.

Only one moment of untruth managed to creep in anyway. That was when Segal, without a facial muscle twitching, defined Israel as “a democratic country that abides by international law.”

The year is 2026. It’s hard to believe that there still is an Israeli interviewer with a reputation for integrity, not a self-righteous one like Yonit Levi or an artist like Danny Kushmaro, who would dare utter such a baseless and ridiculous statement. Maybe he was joking? There are no clauses in international law that Israel has not violated.

Have you seen the Gaza Strip, Segal? Have you visited the West Bank? Perhaps the total destruction of villages in southern Lebanon is your international law? Perhaps the 1,000 babies that we killed in Gaza? The deliberate starvation? The population transfer? The settlements?

Viewers were probably happy to see the all-Israeli Segal “give it” to Carlson. But this interview was too important to make light of or fun of. Carlson placed the definitive mirror in Israelis’ faces, devoid of makeup or of soft lighting, without lies or propaganda, without making any allowances. This is what we look like, no different. This is how we are. Israel is the most violent country in the world, Carlson said.

Segal tut-tutted in shock. Are you serious, he asked, his feelings hurt. Obviously, Tucker is serious. Much more than his interviewer. There are other countries that murder, Carlson said, but there is no other country that boasts and takes pride in the murders it commits like Israel does.

When Carlson said that the United States should have no commitment to Israel, and that its aid makes it an accomplice to Israel’s crimes, Segal pulled out the doomsday weapon. Even if the price is the annihilation of Israel? Carlson did not fall into this trap of victimhood.

Gaza is in ruins, southern Lebanon is under occupation, the West Bank is under apartheid – and Israel is at risk of being annihilated? I don’t want Israel to be destroyed, he answered.

Carlson may have a big mouth, but it’s a truthful one. He represents a new and dangerous stream, Segal said. Indeed, a new stream, but not necessarily a dangerous one. I wish more Israelis would listen to him. This stream wants a different Israel.

What is dangerous is the fact that Israelis want their present Israel. One that dispossesses millions of people from their homes, one that kills tens of thousands of innocent people, erasing towns and villages from the face of the earth, while discriminating against one-fifth of its own population.

And when someone comes along who is unimpressed by all the mendacious clichés, telling us and Americans that the emperor who dragged the U.S. into a bad war with Iran has no clothes, he is branded as an antisemite. Maybe he’s a Nazi? Thank you, Tucker Carlson.

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