Right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson alleged that the Israeli government sought to target members of his family and launched a series of sharp accusations against the Jewish state in a program released Friday following his short trip to Israel.

In the broadcast, Carlson described Israel as “probably the most violent country on earth,” labeled it a police state, questioned its legitimacy and the historical connection of the Jewish people to the land, and asserted that it exerts control over U.S. policy. He also falsely claimed that President Isaac Herzog had visited Jeffrey Epstein’s private island, referencing what appeared to be a fabricated AI-generated image that had circulated online.

Carlson, who has emerged as a prominent conservative critic of Israel, traveled to the country Wednesday to interview U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee. Some reports indicated that he remained in the airport area and left shortly thereafter. Friday’s program featured his interview with Huckabee along with extended monologues in which Carlson sharply criticized Israel.

Speaking on his own during the show, Carlson said: “There was a threat to my family. The Israeli government, and [Prime Minister] Netanyahu himself, tried to punish two members of my family. I won’t be more specific, but actually punish two members of my family because he, as he has said in public many times, believes in blood guilt, Amalek. You know, when someone commits a crime against you, you punish not just him, but his family, his bloodline.”

Carlson did not provide details or evidence to back up the allegation. Netanyahu has not stated that he supports collective punishment or “blood guilt.” References he made to Amalek following the October 7 attack were widely understood as invoking historic existential threats faced by the Jewish people.

Carlson continued: “There’s no idea that’s less Western than that, more anti-Christian than that. Christians reject that. Netanyahu doesn’t. That’s why he’s talking about Amalek, and he was going after my family, literally, so I felt very threatened by that.”