Moments of crisis, fear, and polarization bring out the best and the worst in any society. A country at war is no exception. As America and Israel battle the Islamic Republic regime in Iran, something dark is coalescing on the American Left and in segments of the horseshoe Right. After years of rising antisemitism and the orgiastic celebration many on the activist Left engaged in after October 7, the rapid spread of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel libels should not surprise anyone. The most recent manifestation plays on old tropes about secret Jewish control of world powers. The claim: Israel and Jews dragged America into war with Iran against the American interest.

Tucker Carlson informed millions of viewers that Chabad – a Jewish outreach movement best known for running campus Shabbat dinners – is secretly orchestrating the war with Iran to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and rebuild the Temple. Candace Owens warned her followers that Chabad houses are dangerous. Nick Fuentes attributed the war plainly to “the Jews.” Writers at The Grayzone wove AIPAC and the Epstein-Mossad conspiracy theory into a unified thesis of Jewish puppet-mastery over Washington. Iranian state media, Russian-linked accounts, and Chinese-linked amplification networks have worked overtime to promote these narratives. That last detail is worth pausing on. The foreign governments most invested in discrediting American action against Iran are enthusiastically amplifying the “Israel dragged America into war” hypothesis.

The historical record, however, exposes this libel for the absurd garbage it is.

The Last Time People Blamed Israel for an American War: Iraq

In the lead-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, critics argued that the Israel lobby and Jewish neoconservatives had hijacked American foreign policy. The exhibit most frequently cited was Benjamin Netanyahu’s September 2002 testimony to the House Committee on Government Reform, where he declared that removing Saddam Hussein would have “enormous positive reverberations on the region.” He was wrong.

But here is the part that almost never gets mentioned. Netanyahu testified as a private citizen – he had lost the Israeli premiership in 1999 and held no government position. And his view diverged sharply from the actual position of the Israeli government.

Throughout 2001 and 2002, senior Israeli officials were quietly telling the Bush administration the opposite. Lawrence Wilkerson, Colin Powell’s chief of staff, confirmed this on the record: “The Israelis were telling us Iraq is not the enemy. Iran is the enemy.” He described the warnings as “pervasive.” Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reportedly advised Bush directly against occupying Iraq. In October 2002, the head of Israeli Military Intelligence publicly challenged key elements of the administration’s case. Israeli strategic planners cautioned that war in Iraq could strengthen Iran.

The Bush administration invaded anyway — killing 4,500 Americans, killing roughly 100,000 Iraqis, opening the door to ISIS, and handing Iran the greatest strategic gift in its modern history: the removal of its most powerful regional rival. The war most cited as evidence of Israeli control over American foreign policy was a war the Israeli government actively warned against.

AIPAC’s Most Expensive Defeat

The 2015 Iran nuclear deal is the most stunning example debunking the phantom of an all-powerful Israel lobby. Here we have a specific policy decision, a massive documented lobbying effort against it, and a clear outcome: the lobbying failed completely.

AIPAC created a 501(c)(4) called Citizens for a Nuclear Free Iran and spent between $20 and $40 million on advertising and lobbying. It deployed approximately 300 lobbyists on Capitol Hill and mobilized 100,000 members to meet personally with every member of Congress. A phone-banking operation connected over 500,000 constituents to congressional offices. Netanyahu had already delivered his famous address to Congress warning that the deal paved a “sure path to a nuclear bomb.”

The deal went into effect anyway. Senate Democrats filibustered the resolution of disapproval. President Obama never even needed to exercise his veto. The most expensive lobbying campaign in AIPAC’s history, conducted against a policy the Israeli government viewed as an existential threat, failed. If that is how American-Israeli power dynamics actually work, the idea that Israel controls American foreign policy doesn’t merely strain credulity. It collapses entirely.

A Short History of Israel Capitulating to American Interests

The pattern repeats across decades. In 1987, Israel cancelled the Lavi –a domestically developed fighter jet representing a generational achievement in Israeli aerospace – because the Pentagon opposed it as a competitor to the F-16.

In January 1991, Iraq fired 42 Scud missiles at Israeli cities over 39 days. Israel’s entire strategic doctrine demanded retaliation. Prime Minister Shamir later wrote that absorbing the attacks was “one of the hardest tasks I ever imposed upon myself.” The United States pressured Israel to stand down. Washington was concerned Israeli defensive actions against Iraq could complicate Arab cooperation in the Gulf War. Israel swallowed its doctrine and fell in line with Washington. Thirteen Israelis died.

In July 2000, Prime Minister Ehud Barak cancelled a $1 billion deal to sell four Phalcon airborne early-warning radar systems to China following American pressure, despite the fact that the Phalcon contained no American components. It was designed and built entirely by Israel Aerospace Industries. Israel had to pay China compensation for breaking the contract and the deal’s collapse soured Israeli-Chinese relations for years.

This is not the record of a shadow lobby puppeteering Washington or the Israeli government bullying the United States. It is the record of a smaller ally repeatedly accommodating the demands of the American superpower.

But What Has Iran Ever Done to America?

The United States has extensive, documented, entirely independent reasons to regard the Islamic Republic as a hostile power. No Israeli lobbying required.

Since 2003, Iranian-backed militias have killed at least 603 American service members in Iraq and Syria according to the Pentagon’s own revised figure. One in six American combat deaths in Iraq can be traced to Iranian weapons and Iranian planning. Between October 2023 and early 2024 alone, Iranian-backed groups launched more than 160 attacks on American forces.

Iran has also brought its campaign to American soil. The DOJ charged an IRGC member with offering $300,000 to assassinate John Bolton and $1 million to kill Mike Pompeo. In fall 2024, an IRGC asset was tasked with producing a plan within seven days to assassinate Donald Trump. A Pakistani national acting on IRGC direction was arrested after plotting to kill Trump, Biden, and Nikki Haley. He was convicted in federal court on March 7, 2026. These are documented criminal conspiracies, prosecuted in American courts, targeting American officials on American soil.

Then there are Iran’s relationships with America’s principal rivals. China purchases roughly 90 percent of Iran’s exported oil, funding the IRGC and proxy militias. Beginning in 2022, Iran transferred approximately 6,000 Shahed attack drones to Russia. By early 2026, Russia had launched an estimated 57,000 Shahed-type drones at Ukrainian cities. Iranian weapons are killing civilians in a country America has committed billions to defending.

Since November 2023, Iranian-armed Houthi forces have launched more than 190 attacks on Red Sea shipping and forced the diversion of over 2,000 ships from the Suez Canal. The US Navy spent approximately $1 billion intercepting these attacks – often expending missiles costing $2 to $4 million apiece to shoot down drones costing $20,000. That is Iranian strategy made visible: bleed American resources until the world pays Tehran to stop.

The Islamic Republic has been anti-American from its very inception. “Death to America” became the regime’s unofficial national slogan. While Israel is the “Little Satan,” America is “the Great Satan.” Their hatred of Israel is amplified because they view Israel as an extension of America and their war against Israel is part of a larger war to diminish American power. If Israel disappeared tomorrow, none of that would change.

What the “Israel Dragged America into War” Argument Actually Does

This framework does not explain American behavior. It explains it away. It takes complex strategic calculations, decades of policy decisions, and documented Iranian aggression, and reduces all of it to paranoia about Jewish power. The specifics – Chabad, Epstein, AIPAC – are just the newest iteration of an old and ugly story.

There is legitimate debate about whether military confrontation with Iran was the right decision. One can question the strategic planning, the endgame, or the cost in lives and resources. These are serious questions. But “the Jews did it” is not serious. It is a shortcut that terminates inquiry precisely where inquiry should begin. It absolves American decision-makers of responsibility. It endangers American Jews. And it threatens America’s alliance with its most capable strategic partner in the region.

The evidence is clear. Israel warned against the Iraq War. Israel has repeatedly accommodated American demands over its own interests. The most powerful pro-Israel lobby in history couldn’t stop the JCPOA. And Iran has been killing American soldiers, plotting assassinations of American officials, arming American adversaries, and strangling global trade for years. That is not a story about Jewish power. It is a story about American interests and Iranian aggression.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)