By Ella Dawson and Ari Johnson

Aug 10, 2026

If Israel controls the media, why do “they” allow The New York Times and The Washington Post, arguably the two most influential and established news sources, to consistently smear them in articles? (Here are links to ten articles doing this very thing.)

Why would Israel allow The New York Times to publish these articles, even when editors at NYT have admitted to relying too heavily on claims made by HAMAS, resulting in factual errors?

When you say Israel controls the media, do you mean conservative media? If so, why are conservative publications like The American Conservative, Compact Magazine, The Daily Caller, UnHerd, The Claremont Institute, and Fox News critical of Israel in their articles?

Again, if Israel only controls conservative media, why are Jews some of the most consistently liberal and Democratic groups in the United States? Seven-in-ten Jewish adults identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, and half describe their political views as liberal.

If the Jews control the Hollywood part of the media (as some claim because of Hollywood’s Jewish founder) why are there constant movements in Hollywood to boycott Israeli film institutions and support Palestine?

The mission statement for Artists4Ceasefire (a collective of artists and advocates) signed by more than 400 famous actors, musicians and creators, says “We need a permanent ceasefire, the free flow of critical aid and an end to the decades-long denial of Palestinian human rights.” Film Workers for Palestine calls for a “free Palestine,” and they build spaces to organize a response “to the war on Palestinians and to the censoring of voices that speak out against Israel’s genocidal campaign.” This organization, and anyone who signs their pledge (Mark Ruffalo and Emma Stone, among others), agrees to boycott Israeli film institutions.

When you say “Israel,” what do you mean? The State of Israel? Benjamin Netanyahu? The Rothschilds? Carl Laemmle? The Jews? The Israeli Defense Force (IDF)? A select group of people that are attached to Israel in some way? Powerful CEO’s who care about Israel?

When you say “control,” do you actually mean they have a loose, semi-powerful influence over some things that are published and said? Or do you mean they control and ally with certain media figures? If so, how does this differentiate Israel from China (with influence over TikTok and other ways of promoting propaganda), Russia (illegal meddling in elections, often through social media), Qatar ($100 billion invested to establish influence), and other bad and good actors in the United States? Can multiple countries and peoples control the media all at once, even when they have competing narratives?

If AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) controls politicians and therefore indirectly the media, why is it not the largest lobbying group in America? It’s supposedly the 191th largest lobbying group in the United States. Why did nine other countries (like China, Japan, and Saudi Arabia) spend more on lobbying than Israel between 2016-2026?

Separate from lobbying money, it is true that AIPAC is one of the largest campaign spenders, at $126.9 million in 2024, with 318 candidates elected. While they are good at electing their chosen candidates, why are they so bad at swaying public opinion in their direction? Across 36 countries, a median of 67 percent of adults have an unfavorable view of Israel, while 25 percent have a favorable view. 60 percent of US adults have an unfavorable view.

If Israel controls the media, wouldn’t conservative commentators like Ben Shapiro be getting more views, not less? Wouldn’t public opinion towards Israel be more positive than negative?

A few commentators (mainly Candace Owens) loosely claim Israel was involved in Charlie Kirk’s assassination because — while he previously supported Israel — he was skeptical of some Jewish actors and Israeli causes near the end of his life. This tie to Israel became a trend on social media almost immediately after Charlie Kirk’s death.

Graph can be found here.

If Israel controls the media, why did these posts go viral, and why were there so many of them?

Here is some loose evidence these posts and commentators use to pin involvement in Charlie Kirk’s death on Israel:

• The October 7 attacks on Israel in 2023 are when Kirk’s zionist tune started to change. He said as a guest on a podcast, “was there a stand down order?” (from Netanyahu). Kirk expressed doubt in the fact that the October 7 attacks were possible, hinting at an inside job.
• On his own podcast soon after October 7, Charlie Kirk said: “Jews have been some of the largest funders of cultural Marxist ideas and supporters of those ideas over the last 30 or 40 years. Stop supporting causes that hate you.”
• On the weekend of July 11, 2025, Kirk allowed Dave Smith to assert in a debate that “the level of Israeli control over our politics is, frankly, pretty undeniable.” Kirk received some backlash from conservatives for hosting this debate without addressing certain points.
• Benjamin Netanyahu posted twice on X after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, calling him a “lion-hearted friend of Israel.” Netanyahu appeared on Fox News, “heartbroken”.
• Some of Kirk’s colleagues and friends noticed his growing skepticism of Israel.
  • Tucker Carlson said: “Charlie was both leading and following. His positions matched his principles, but they also reflected the views of the people he was talking to. I mean, he was on college campuses. How many college students support Israel? None. Just the shills.”
  • Perhaps the most bombshell piece of “evidence” is from Candace Owens. She revealed screenshots of texts from Charlie two days before his assassination in one of her episodes. These texts were confirmed by other sources as authentic. This is what Kirk texted:
    • “Just lost another huge Jewish donor. $2 million a year because we won’t cancel Tucker. I’m thinking of inviting Candace”
    • “Jewish donors play into all the stereotypes. I cannot and will not be bullied like this.”
    • “Leaving me no choice but to leave the pro Israel cause.”

While the evidence does point to Charlie Kirk’s growing criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu and the pro-Israel cause, Owens and others use these pieces of evidence to suggest Israel was involved in Kirk’s murder.

Kirk was not even close to being as critical of Israel as Megyn Kelly, The Washington Post, Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, The New York Times, and even some conservative news outlets have been, especially publicly.

Why haven’t any other conservative commentators critical of Israel been “silenced”? If Israel controls the media, why is Candace Owens getting millions of views, and why do anti-Israel sentiments tend to do much better on social media? If Israel controls the media through money, where do commentators critical of the country get their money from?

Conservative commentators that are critical of Israel do receive major backlash from many other pro-Israel conservatives, with terms like “antisemetic” being thrown around on X willy-nilly and often without real cause. But many conservatives get prickly about many topics — abortion, the Constitution of the United States, God-given rights, legislating morality, free-market economics, education, Donald Trump, Christianity, etc. — and many conservative commentators and organizations are likely funded by people who believe in those things. If you change your tune, you lose donors. Why is the pro-Israel cause any different?

If Israel really controls the media (whatever that means), why are they so bad at it?