Cruz Tells Christian Supporters of Israel Church Is Failing to Confront Rising Antisemitism on Right

A Christian gathering in San Antonio heard a warning from U.S. Senator Ted Cruz about antisemitism on the political right. Cruz gave the keynote address on Sunday at a megachurch led by John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), which claims more than 10 million members. The event was Hagee’s 45th annual Night to Honor Israel. Cruz described “a growing cancer” of antisemitism on the right, which he said church leaders were failing to address.

“I’m here to tell you, in the last six months, I have seen antisemitism rising on the right in a way I have never seen in my entire life,” Cruz said. He added, “The work that CUFI does is desperately, desperately needed, but I’m here to tell you, the church is asleep right now.”

In the days around the speech, a number of conservative commentators made similar appeals. In The Free Press, conservative columnist Eli Lake published an essay titled “How Nick Fuentes Went Mainstream.” Lake argued that Fuentes, a far-right activist long shunned for racist and antisemitic rhetoric, had recently been welcomed by a number of popular podcasts and livestreams, and that the “stigma” around him had “melted away.” Tablet published a first-person essay by a libertarian writer, headlined “Hitler Is Back in Style.” The author described a libertarian-to-alt-right pipeline that, over the past decade, had normalized conspiratorial thinking about Jews and open flirtations with Hitler apologetics. The author argued that “antiwar” rhetoric had become reflexive anti-Israel sentiment and a broader hostility to Jews.

Tikvah, a Jewish educational center and think tank that the source describes as one of the most prominent right-wing groups in the Jewish world, said it had tracked the same trend. In an email to supporters on Thursday, Avi Snyder, a senior director at Tikvah, wrote: “Today, there is a clear faction of the right that is overtly hostile to Israel and to Judaism. And though small, it is no longer marginal or possible to ignore.” Tikvah pointed to essays it began publishing in 2023. Those essays warned that some on the right were reviving old suspicions about Jewish loyalty, casting the U.S.-Israel alliance as a trap, and disputing the moral superiority of the Allied fight in World War II.

The debate also took place against the backdrop of the assassination of Charlie Kirk last month. According to the source, the killing unleashed a torrent of conspiracy theories that quickly turned antisemitic in parts of the right’s online ecosystem. Fact-checkers documented a flood of false claims, and some influencers speculated about Israeli or “Mossad” involvement. That rhetoric gained enough traction that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, felt compelled to issue a rebuttal. Prosecutors in Utah have charged a suspect and outlined a motive that, the source reports, has nothing to do with Israel.

In his speech, Cruz said he had talked with Netanyahu about declining support for Israel on the right, and that the two men see the issue differently. Cruz recounted that Netanyahu’s first instinct was to attribute much of it to foreign amplification from places like Qatar and Iran, including bots and paid misinformation networks. Cruz pushed back: “I said, ‘Mr. Prime Minister, yes, but no. Yes, Qatar and Iran are clearly paying for it, and there are bots, and they are putting real money behind it, but I am telling you, this is real, it is organic, these are real human beings, and it is spreading.'”

Later in his address, Cruz warned of a resurgence of replacement theology, which he called a “lie that the promises God made to Israel and the people of Israel are somehow no longer good, they are no longer valid.” The source explains that under replacement theology, the Israelites were supplanted as God’s chosen people once the Christian church was founded. Cruz, the source notes, did not blame anyone by name. Still, the source places his comments alongside figures with long records of inflammatory commentary about Jews or Israel. It names Fuentes, who has returned from ostracism to high-visibility bookings; Tucker Carlson, whose audience of millions the source says amplifies narratives that edge into Jew-baiting; and Candace Owens, whose conspiratorial comments about Israel continue to draw audiences. The source characterizes these figures as part of a feedback loop in which algorithmic reach and controversy reward edgier positions, which makes it harder for party leaders to draw lines.

A separate controversy arose last week. Politico published a report on a Telegram chat among early-career Republican activists, in which, according to Politico’s account as summarized by the source, members traded racist slurs, joked about gas chambers and praised Hitler. The episode led to firings, the shutdown of state Young Republican chapters and bipartisan condemnation. Vice President J.D. Vance downplayed the messages as immature “jokes” and urged critics to “grow up.” His stance became part of the week’s debate over whether the right will police its own.

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