A U.S. Religious Liberty Commission hearing intended to address bigotry in American society devolved into a tense confrontation on Monday, as witnesses and commissioners clashed over the scope of the inquiry and the relevance of the war in Gaza to domestic civil rights.

The hearing, held at the Museum of the Bible, was designed to explore legal and cultural remedies for religious discrimination.

However, proceedings were repeatedly derailed by Commissioner Carrie Prejean Boller, a conservative activist and former model appointed by President Donald Trump. Boller pressed witnesses on their stances regarding Israel and Zionism, drawing sharp rebukes from Jewish leaders and eventually the commission’s own chairman.

Tensions flared when Boller directed her questioning toward Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Jewish activist and Harvard graduate who sued his alma mater over unchecked antisemitism. The lawsuit was settled last May. Despite Kestenbaum’s testimony focusing on the harassment of students on American campuses, largely related to the Israel/Gaza war, Boller pivoted to foreign policy on the conflict itself.

“Since we’ve mentioned Israel a total of 17 times, are you willing to condemn what Israel has done in Gaza?” Boller asked Kestenbaum.

Kestenbaum rejected the premise of the question, leading to a heated exchange.
“I unilaterally reject that,” Kestenbaum responded, dismissing the accusation of genocide in Gaza. “The only genocide ever carried out was on October 7, when Hamas tried killing every man, woman, and child they could possibly find.”

When Boller insisted on discussing the foreign conflict, Commission Chairman Dan Patrick, the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, intervened. “I’m going to interrupt the discussion,” Patrick said. “This is not a commission on defining religions or calling out any theology… This could be another discussion on another day.”

Following the hearing, Kestenbaum issued a blistering statement to Belaaz, condemning Boller’s conduct and calling for her removal from the commission.

“Religious discrimination against Christian Americans and Jewish Americans is a top concern to President Trump,” Kestenbaum told Belaaz. “It is therefore unconscionable that an individual who does not share these concerns, would somehow sit on the religious liberties commission. My testimony did not include Israel, did not mention Israel, and is divorced from the situation in Israel and Gaza. To have a commissioner focus exclusively on an issue that does not impact Christian Americans and Jewish Americans, underscores her need to be removed from this commission.”

He continued, contrasting Boller with her colleagues: “I applaud all the other Commissioners for their serious devotion and commitment to advancing religious freedom and liberties in America and their good work should not be tarnished by this one inflammatory individual. To be clear, as I mentioned numerous times throughout the hearing, hate speech is free speech. There is no legal distinction. What we concern ourselves with is the violation of law, something the commissioner was not interested in discussing.”

During the hearing, Kestenbaum outlined a robust defense of free speech, arguing that the crisis on American campuses is not about offensive words, but about conduct and institutional double standards.
“You can hate Jews or not,” Kestenbaum told the commission. “Hate Jews. Think they control the banks, think they have horns. Go for it. What I do mind is when people violate the law, and that’s why this commission is so important.”

He emphasized that the government’s role is not to police thought, but to ensure equal protection. “Whatever the violation of law is – whether against Jewish students, Muslim students, or Christian students – that is when it becomes a federal issue,” he said.

Kestenbaum reserved his harshest criticism for university administrators, specifically citing Harvard University’s record. He pointed to a double standard where universities strictly punish “microaggressions” like “fatphobia” or “sizeism” but permit open antisemitism under the guise of free speech.

“I find it remarkable that the attacks on American Jews… have been that we’re trying to silence free speech,” Kestenbaum testified. “I cannot point to a single Jewish student on a single American campus who drew swastikas at the Muslim Student Association, who threw rocks through dorm buildings, who pitched encampments in the middle of the quad and disrupted lectures.”

He noted that Harvard was ranked dead last in free speech by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). “This is an institution that when you enroll as a freshman, you have mandatory training where you are told that fatphobia… and ableism are grounds for discipline,” he said. “The only time they suddenly had an interest [in free speech] was when Claudine Gay randomly said that she wished she could protect American Jewish students.”

Beyond the legal arguments, Kestenbaum warned of the cultural impact of conspiracy theories on young Americans. He described antisemitism as a “cancer” for Gen Z.

“If young people… truly believe that ‘I will never get ahead in life… because of the Jews,’ then they will tap out of society,” Kestenbaum explained. “They will give up their role in building a better life for themselves and for their community… That’s why I care so much about antisemitism. It’s not merely a Jewish problem. It is a profoundly and uniquely American problem.”

Other witnesses who testified on antisemitism included Leo Terrell, Chair of the DOJ Task Force to Combat Antisemitism.

The hearing also saw Boller defend conservative commentators Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson, whom she claimed were unfairly labeled as antisemites. When Seth Dillon, CEO of the Babylon Bee, described the pair as “the two most famous antisemites,” Boller pushed back, stating, “She’s not an antisemite. She just doesn’t support Zionism.”

Other witnesses expressed confusion over Boller’s line of questioning. Rabbi Ari Berman, president of Yeshiva University, was challenged by Boller on Islamophobia after he argued that denying Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state is antisemitic. Berman later told JNS that the exchange was “silly to focus on” and distracted from the need to “incentivize universities to teach American values.”

As the hearing concluded, a coalition of religious groups filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration and the commission, alleging that the body lacks ideological diversity and excludes non-Christians.