Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett excoriates far-right podcaster who refused to enter Israel and planted false story claiming he was detained.
By David Rosenberg, World Israel News
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett excoriated far-right podcaster and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson over the controversial influencer’s brief visit to Israel.
On Wednesday, Carlson and his entourage landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport for an interview with American Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
While Carlson and his team were cleared by border control, the 56-year-old pundit declined to leave the airport, remaining in the VIP lounge for the duration of his stay before boarding a return flight.
Following his short visit, the Daily Mail published an article falsely claiming that Carlson and his producer were “dragged” into an interrogation room by Israeli officials who confiscated their passports.
The story, written by a former Carlson employee, was quickly debunked by both the American embassy and the Israel Airports Authority.
Later on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein denounced the article as a “complete lie.”
Former Prime Minister Bennett also responded to the incident, mocking Carlson’s refusal to leave Ben Gurion International Airport and slamming his false accusations against airport authorities.
“Tucker Carlson is a chickenshit,” Bennett wrote on X on Wednesday. “The guy who’s been spouting lies about Israel for the past two years, landed today at Ben Gurion airport, took a quick picture in the logistics zone, tweeted it to pretend he’s actually IN Israel (so he can later claim that he’s a serious reporter who toured Israel), didn’t even step foot in country [sic], then made up a story that he’s being supposedly harassed by our security (didn’t happen), whined about it, got back into the private jet and flew off.”
“Next time he talks about Israel as if he’s some expert, just remember this guy is a phony,” Bennett added.
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