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On September 4, 2026, the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) featured Cenk Uygur, host of the political program The Young Turks, as the keynote speaker at its annual gala dinner. Uygur’s public record includes the claim that Israel controls the United States Congress.
The September 4 gala marked Uygur’s third appearance at a CAIR event in twelve months. CAIR’s Chicago chapter made him keynote speaker at its 22nd Anniversary Gala in October 2025. CAIR-LA featured him at its Annual Valley Banquet in August 2026, then selected him for its September 4 gala keynote, and CAIR’s national organization has since announced him as a speaker for its conference in Washington, D.C., on September 12 and 13.
“It is not antisemitic to say Israel controls Congress,” Uygur wrote on X on July 19, 2025.
I'm tired of Israel using Jews as human shields. It's antisemitic to say Jews control America. My Jewish friends and family don't control shit. It is not antisemitic to say Israel controls Congress. Israeli lobby gave more to Congress than any other lobby. That's just a fact.
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) July 19, 2025
Promoting his interview with Tucker Carlson on The Young Turks in February 2026, Uygur said, “94% of Congress works for Israel. All of our presidents work for Israel. They’ve all been bribed by the Israeli lobby to betray you.”
In a public debate on Israel on July 16, 2025, Uygur falsely called the country “a genocidal terrorist state that thinks it owns America.” He returned to the same theme in a post on X on May 26, 2026: “This is Nazi logic. If your victims dare defend themselves, kill ten times as many. Why are we funding the Nazis?”
Uygur has also tied Israel to the cost of American wars. “The Global War on Terror was a Global War on Israel’s Enemies,” he wrote on X on February 18, 2026.
The Global War on Terror was a Global War on Israel's Enemies. And we spent $8 TRILLION on that nonsense. And who is going to pay for this war? I guarantee you it isn't going to be Israel. They're going to dump that cost straight onto the lap of the average American.
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) February 17, 2026
He has also argued that Israel’s prime minister holds power over the White House regardless of who wins American elections. “Whether Biden wins or Trump wins, Netanyahu is still in charge,” he wrote on X on June 18, 2025.
Whether Biden wins or Trump wins, Netanyahu is still in charge. If you're America First, is that what you voted for? Trump said he wasn't go to get us involved in a war and now he says we will fight Israel's war for them in Iran. Get real, who's in charge?
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) June 18, 2025
Uygur has also alleged that Jeffrey Epstein worked for Mossad, the CIA, or both. “There’s absolutely no question Epstein was intelligence, either Mossad or CIA or both,” he wrote on X on December 21, 2025.
It turns out Epstein was in the middle of Iran-Contra. There were no civilians involved in that. There's absolutely no question Epstein was intelligence, either Mossad or CIA or both. Establishment media ignoring this is so absurd that it makes you wonder who they're working for.
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) December 21, 2025
Uygur has also sought to discredit accusations of antisemitism involving Israel. “The word antisemite has now become counterproductive for Israeli zealots,” he wrote on X on October 1, 2025. “98% of the time it’s used is to defend some moral crime of Israel.”
The word antisemite has now become counterproductive for Israeli zealots. It now means someone who is opposed to a genocide and is in favor of American sovereignty. 98% of the time it's used is to defend some moral crime of Israel. It has completely lost its original meaning.
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) October 1, 2025
Uygur’s allegations of Israeli control over Congress, the presidency, and American foreign policy echo the conspiracy theories the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition classifies as antisemitism. His comparison of Israeli policy to Nazi Germany matches one of its examples directly. His branding of Israel as “a genocidal terrorist state” revives one of history’s oldest lies against Jews. For centuries, blood libel incited pogroms and mass violence against Jewish communities. Antisemitism constantly mutates. The same charge once leveled at individual Jews now targets the Jewish collective, the State of Israel. Every statement above was public before September 4. CAIR featured Uygur at three events within twelve months and has booked him for a fourth.
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