Under the guise of advocating for Palestinian Christians, Tucker Carlson launched a two-pronged assault on Israel and American political and Christian support for the Jewish State. To provide legitimacy for his campaign, he enlisted the help of Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem and notorious propagandist for the Palestinian anti-Israel narrative. Carlson’s interview with Isaac aired on April 9, 2024, on “Tucker Carlson on X,” receiving tens of thousands of likes and shares.
Munther Isaac has a long history of promoting falsehoods about Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict in his roles as pastor, academic dean of Bethlehem Bible College (a self-identified Evangelical university that promotes a Palestinian Christian theology), and director of Christ at the Checkpoint conferences (the infamous venue where anti-Israel libels are proclaimed in the name of Christian love, justice and peace).
For many years, CAMERA has exposed the deceptiveness in Isaac’s teaching, as well as the fallacious theological and historical foundation of the narrative promoted by Bethlehem Bible College and Christ at the Checkpoint. Examples of that documentation can be seen here, here, and here. In light of the blatantly anti-Jewish activism of Isaac and these institutions, it is appalling that Carlson would provide a platform for such thinly-veiled hatred.
Carlson’s conversation with Isaac promoted multiple false claims including the alleged mistreatment of Christians by Israel, the cause of the significantly diminished Christian population of Bethlehem, and reasons behind the current suffering of Gazan civilians. The obvious agenda behind Carlson’s line of questions and Isaac’s libelous answers was the demonization of Israel and all elected officials and Christians who dare to support the Jewish State.
Thanks to Carlson, anti-Israel Christian Palestinians have found a new outlet through which to propagate their deceptive propaganda, rooted in theological, historical and geo-political error. It is irresponsible, and in fact dangerous, for Carlson to facilitate the presentation of blatant lies and antisemitic libels when there is an unprecedented rise in Jew-hatred worldwide and Israel is in the midst of an existential war initiated by terrorists who seek its annihilation.
The bottom line is this: Tucker Carlson’s interview with Munther Isaac was, among other things, a manipulative attempt to shame American officials and Christian leaders – Evangelicals in particular – for their support of Israel in the hope of turning that support away from the Jewish State when it is needed now more than ever.