When federal prosecutors dropped one charge against an Israeli citizen connected to an unlicensed Las Vegas biolab, anti-Israel influencers rushed to their favorite conclusion: proof that Israel controls the United States.

They were wrong on nearly every count. And by pushing the “Blame Israel” narrative, they were doing an enormous favor for the people who actually deserve scrutiny.

What Really Happened

On May 26, 2026, news broke that prosecutors had dropped charges against Ori Solomon, a 55-year-old Israeli citizen arrested in February in connection with an illegal biolab operating out of a Las Vegas home.

Podcaster Mario Nawfal immediately declared on X: “He is now free to return to Israel… an unlicensed lab in a U.S. city handling serious biological agents. The quiet dismissal of all charges raises a lot of eyebrows, but are we really surprised?” Retired Army Colonel Douglas MacGregor, a prolific poster of anti-Israel content, amplified the story. So did many others.

But almost none of it is accurate.

The charge that was dropped was a weapons charge, not the biolab case. Prosecutors alleged Solomon, due to his immigration status, was barred from owning a firearm. That charge is gone. The rest isn’t.

Solomon still faces a state charge for disposing of and discharging hazardous waste.

Solomon is not free to return to Israel. He surrendered his passport upon arrest and is due back in Las Vegas Justice Court on June 4.

The lab didn’t belong to Solomon. The home is one of several properties he manages. The home’s owner is someone else entirely — and that’s where the real story begins.

Meet Jia Bei Zhu

The owner of the Las Vegas home is Jia Bei Zhu, a 64-year-old Chinese national with a documented history of operating illegal biolabs across the United States — and deep, verified ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

A House Select Committee investigation laid it out in detail.

Zhu already stands convicted for his role in a nearly identical unauthorized biolab discovered in Reedley, California. Officials found at least 20 infectious pathogenic agents, including HIV and tuberculosis, a freezer labeled “Ebola,” and vials of an unknown liquid marked in code. Zhu was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, distributing adulterated and misbranded medical devices, and making false statements to the FDA. He remains in custody.

The Select Committee’s investigation revealed that while living in China in the early 2000s, Zhu served as chairman of multiple state-controlled enterprises connected to China’s civil-military fusion ecosystem — several of which were already on the U.S. Entity List. He has stolen American intellectual property and passed it to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and continues to operate a PRC network.

Zhu set up his first U.S. biolab in Fresno, California, with assistance from another Chinese national who also worked for CCP entities. He later relocated to Reedley. While running the operation in Reedley, Zhu received over $1.3 million in unexplained wire transfers from Chinese banks.

And Zhu has been candid about where his loyalties lie. In his own words, he wanted to “defeat the American aggressor.”

Ask Yourself: Who Benefits?

When a Chinese national with documented CCP ties runs illegal biolabs on American soil, receives millions from Chinese banks, and is connected to another suspicious property — and the national conversation somehow becomes about Israel — someone is winning. And it isn’t Israel.

The CCP has every interest in keeping American eyes pointed in the wrong direction. Every minute spent on “Israel controls the U.S.” is a minute not spent asking why a man convicted of running a pathogen lab for the CCP also owned the house where the next illegal lab turned up. Every viral post about Israeli influence is a smokescreen — whether intended or not — that lets the actual story quietly disappear.

Whether they are aware of it or not, Nawfal, MacGregor, and their fellow Israel obsessives perfectly serve Beijing’s interest in deflecting scrutiny. They looked at a national security story and saw Israel. Beijing couldn’t have scripted it better.

Sources

Mario Nawfal, Douglas MacGregor, KTNV, ABC 30, NBC News, Lawfare, House Select Committee on the CCP, CBC