| THE LIE Jews in Israel are invaders forcing indigenous “Palestinian” Christians out of ancient “Palestinian” Christian towns. |
| THE TRUTH Jesus and his ancestors were indigenous Jews of Judea, in what is now Israel. The claim that Jews are driving Christians out of Israel is not true. |
| BACKGROUND In a February 19, 2026 video, Tucker Carlson claimed Jews are driving Christians out of Beit Sahour, a town near Bethlehem that he said is under Israeli control. (X) He asserted that“Palestinian” Christians have lived continuously in Israel, including Beit Sahour,since the time of Jesus, beginning under Roman rule. To support his narrative, Tucker interviewed Fares Abraham, a U.S.-based “Palestinian Christian,” claiming Abraham’s family has lived in Beit Sahour since Jesus.Both Tucker and Abraham accused Jews of “stealing land” from the rightful inhabitants of the land, which they said are “Palestinian Christians.” At no point did Tucker acknowledge that Jews,including Jesus, have an indigenous history in the land. |
| TRUTH EXPLAINED The story is false: Contrary to Tucker’s claim, Abraham admits in the interview that he has never traced his family’s presence in Beit Sahour to the time of Jesus. (X) No Jewish presence in the town: There are no Jews living in Beit Sahour, which is under Palestinian Authority control and off-limits to Israelis. The nearby Jewish community Tucker references, Yatziv, is in Area C under Israeli control. Double standard: Beit Sahour is 20% Muslim, yet the presence of Muslims in the community is never framed as “driving Christians out.”There was no continuous Christian residence in Beit Sahour: The town’s Orthodox Church states that by the mid-13th century, Beit Sahour was nearly uninhabited, aside from a few shepherds and farmers. The “uninterrupted” residence claim is false. (Forefathers Orthodox Church of Beit Sahour) Christians are indigenous, but there were no “Palestinians” in Jesus’s time. The Romans first applied the name “Syria Palaestina” to Judea In the second century A.D., 100 years after Jesus’s death, in an attempt to erase Jewish identification with the land of Israel. The term “Palestine” comes from that name. (Jewish Virtual Library) The church’s own records acknowledge Jewish roots. Beit Sahour’s church traces the town’s history through Jacob, Ruth and Boaz, and King David—Jesus’s lineage that Tucker carefully ignores. (Forefathers Orthodox Church of Beit Sahour) Historical inaccuracies: Tucker frames the history of Israel as beginning with the Roman period, skipping the Jewish Hasmonean dynasty and Jewish sovereignty since the 15th century BCE. He credits Christians with indigeneity for 2,000 years but denies the same to Jews, despite their far older historical presence in the land. (Jewish Virtual Library) Erasing Jewish indigeneity: Tucker ignores the fact that Jesus and his ancestors were Jews indigenous to Judea (today’s Israel). Jews have lived there continuously for roughly 4,000 years. (Hoover Institution), (Aish), (Jewish Virtual Library) |
| QUOTES “The most rightful claim to the land is that of the Jews. The land of Canaan, or Judea and Samaria, has been the Jews’ for well over 4,000 years.” — Charlie Kirk“So Jesus Christ … himself was a Hebraic Torah observant, Shabbat observant Jew … because ‘Jew’ just means you’re from Judea. That’s all it means … Jew comes from Judea. Jesus Christ himself honored the law.” — Charlie Kirk |
| TAKEAWAY Tucker Carlson’s Beit Sahour claims are a lie: no Jews are driving Christians out, and the town is not under Israeli control. Yet in his zeal to erase Israel’s Jewish identity, he simultaneously erases Jesus and his Jewish lineage, turning Jesus into a prop to fuel outrage against Jews. |
