ISRAEL HAYOM (by agreement with JNS)
Tucker Carlson’s ‘detention’ claim unravels as new footage surfaces
Or Shaked
February 19, 2026

The uproar surrounding the brief visit of conservative American media personality Tucker Carlson to Israel continues, after new footage released Thursday cast doubt on his claim that he was “detained” and “dragged into an interrogation room” at Ben-Gurion Airport. Carlson told the Daily Mail that after concluding an interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee in Jerusalem, Israeli security officials confiscated his passport and led his producer into a side room to question him about the content of their discussion. However, footage first shared by social media activist Oli London shows Carlson at the VIP terminal at Ben-Gurion Airport, smiling, conversing with employees and even taking a photo with one of them, contradicting his narrative of being forcibly escorted and having his passport seized. In a post accompanying the video, London wrote that Carlson had been “exposed” and was neither arrested nor interrogated, but treated like any other visitor. READ MORE

ARUTZ SHEVA Bennett: Tucker Carlson is a ‘phony’ spouting lies about Israel Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Wednesday ripped American commentator Tucker Carlson, after Carlson falsely claimed that he had been detained at Ben Gurion Airport upon his arrival in Israel. “Tucker Carlson is a chickens**t. The guy who’s been spouting lies about Israel for the past two years, landed today at Ben Gurion airport, took a quick picture in the logistics zone, tweeted it to pretend he’s actually IN Israel (so he can later claim that he’s a serious reporter who toured Israel), didn’t even step foot in country, then made up a story that he’s being supposedly harassed by our security (didn’t happen), whined about it, got back into the private jet and flew off,” Bennett wrote in a post on social media.

JPOST Tucker Carlson visits Israel for sit-down with Huckabee: ‘He wouldn’t leave the airport’ The interview came after a public back-and-forth between Carlson and Ambassador Huckabee and was conducted inside the Ben-Gurion Airport complex, sources told The Jerusalem Post.