Military Operation Against Iranian Regime Fuels Wave of Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories, Calls for Mobilization

The ongoing U.S. and Israeli military operation against the Iranian regime triggered an immediate online surge of antisemitic, anti-Zionist and conspiratorial commentary that spanned the ideological spectrum. 

The ADL Center on Extremism (COE) recorded a rapid convergence of extremists, alleged anti-war activists and anti-Israel groups around a shared set of narratives, including that the strikes were launched for Israel’s benefit at the cost of American lives, that Jewish or Zionist actors exercise illegitimate control or power over U.S. foreign policy, and that the war was deliberately engineered as a distraction from the release of the Epstein files. This claim is being rapidly weaponized to advance antisemitic narratives linking supposed Jewish elites, child exploitation, and control of U.S. affairs. 

These narratives spread at significant speed across X, Instagram, Telegram, and other platforms, amplified in some cases by mainstream figures with millions of followers, bringing overtly antisemitic language and imagery to audiences far beyond extremist spaces. 

On the ground, the ANSWER Coalition and other anti-Israel groups called for mass mobilization against the war and organized protests across major American cities, some featuring antisemitic messaging and/or glorification of terror groups. COE is continuing to monitor these events for antisemitic content. 

Taken together, the response to the strikes on Iran illustrates a familiar dynamic: Major world events are being exploited to further promote antisemitic narratives, normalize extremist rhetoric, increasingly blur the distinction between fringe conspiracy and political commentary, and mobilize action under the banner of anti-war sentiment. 

COE is tracking seven emerging rhetorical trends, including antisemitic and anti-Zionist narratives and conspiracy theories.

1. "Americans Dying for Israel" / The U.S. as Israel's Military Proxy

This is the most dominant and cross-ideological throughline monitored by COE since the military operation against the Iranian regime began on February 28. Actors spanning white nationalists, influencers, anti-war voices, and Islamist-aligned groups all converged on the same core message: that the strikes on Iran were conducted to serve Jewish or Israeli interests at the cost of American lives.

The breadth of this theme is notable for its rhetorical alignment between seemingly ideologically opposed extremist ecosystems. Key messengers include Stew Peters, Candace Owens, National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP), Samidoun (affiliated with the designated terror group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Chicago, and the Proud Boys, among many others.

For example, Peters fired off a series of X posts accusing the U.S. military of being “mercenaries for the terrorist state of Israel and “Israel's bitch," alleging in a separate post that “the goyim will fight and die for the Israeli Jews while these cowards flee and hide in underground bunkers like filthy rats."

Owens urged that “no one ever should sign up for [the] United States military outside of those who wish to join the IDF... We are an occupied nation,” ending her X post with an allusion to the baseless conspiracy theories she has spun regarding the assassination of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk. “This is why Charlie was murdered,” she wrote.

Extremists further amplified this messaging following a March 4 Capitol Hill hearing on the military operation in Iran, during which United States Marine Corps veteran Sgt. Brian McGinnis was removed after shouting, “America does not want to send its sons and daughters to war for Israel!” and “No one wants to fight for Israel!” Far-right influencers who regularly publish antisemitic content, like Jake Shields and Lucas Gage, and white supremacists, quickly shared images, clips, and memes of the outburst to reinforce the 'Americans dying for Israel' narrative. McGinnis, a pro-Palestinian activist who participated in one of the aid flotillas to Gaza in 2024, is a Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina.

(Screenshot/X)

2. Jewish/Zionist Control of the U.S. Government ("ZOG" / "Occupied Nation")

Closely tied to the first theme, this trend involves explicit claims that Jews or Zionists have seized control of U.S foreign policy. This theme leans more heavily into classic antisemitic conspiracy theory language, including references to "ZOG" (a white supremacist-coined acronym, Zionist Occupied Government), "shekels," "goyim," and Jewish "control." 

Actors like the neo-Nazi Aryan Freedom Network, right-wing online provocateur “Sneako,” and controversial streamer Hasan Piker in particular appeared across multiple high-reach posts, including those amplified by figures with millions of followers, like Owens.

3. "Operation Epstein Fury" / War as a Distraction from the Epstein Files

The conspiratorial rebranding of Operation Epic Fury — the official name of the U.S. military operation in Iran — as "Operation Epstein Fury" generated over 35,000 mentions and 28,000 unique authors on X by 4:00 PM ET on February 28 alone, growing to over 91,000 mentions from more than 60,000 unique authors about 48 hours later. The phrase is rapidly being weaponized by extremist actors to advance antisemitic tropes.

The recently released Epstein files themselves, as COE wrote last week, are often wielded by bad actors as "proof" that Zionists control politics, are in cahoots with the ruling class, and that Israel and the Mossad are part and parcel with pedophilia.

The amplification by Owens of an overtly antisemitic AI-generated image, reaching a combined audience of over a million views, is the starkest example of how this narrative bridge between mainstream skepticism and fringe antisemitism is operating.

(X/Screenshot)

4. Calls to Action / Mobilization Feature Violent Rhetoric

Across both activist and extremist spaces, the strikes on Iran have been used as a catalyst for mobilization. Numerous anti-war and anti-Zionist groups, including American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), ANSWER Coalition, Behind Enemy Lines (BEL), CODEPINK, Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), National SJP, Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), and Samidoun, are organizing and promoting protests.

The ANSWER Coalition and many partner organizations coordinated multiple national “day[s] of action” under the banner of “Stop the War on Iran!” Over 150 protests took place in cities across the country from February 28 to March 2, and more were scheduled for another day of action on March 7.

Some statements calling for protest action have featured violent or pro-terror slogans, and some of these online calls have been echoed at on-the-ground actions. The slogan “Death to America, Death to Israel, Glory to the martyrs,” was used in a post on Telegram post by the Tariq El-Tahrir Youth and Student Network, a student group tied to the extreme anti-Zionist organization Masar Badil (itself with deep connections to Samidoun).

An X post from Free Palestine TV, an anti-Israel media outlet launched by Canadian anti-Zionist activist Laith Marouf after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, appeared to incite violence against Jewish people and community spaces globally in response to the strikes on Iran. The post read: “As Jewish Temples, leaders and community spaces come under attack around the world in the next few days, there will be no one to blame but so-called ‘anti-Zionist’ Jews and Leftovers in Imperial Domains, who failed all their responsibilities to stop the crimes in their name.”

In a since-deleted tweet, Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) wrote "Marg bar Amrika [Death to America]” on February 28. That same slogan was displayed on a sign at a protest in New Haven, CT, on March 1.

5. Recycling/Repurposing of Antisemitic Tropes

The attacks on Iran also triggered a resurgence of longstanding antisemitic conspiracy theories linking Israel to the 9/11 attacks. For example, “Sneako,” known for using his popular streaming platform to boost antisemites, published an X post with a video of Israelis singing in a bomb shelter, commenting that "Israelis dancing in a bomb shelter the same way they did when the second tower fell." The post generated over 700,000 views.

Antisemite and conspiracy theorist Daniel Haqiqatjou also posted a video on X of Israelis in bomb shelters with the caption: "They haven't danced this much since 9/11."

The anti-Zionist and antisemitic X account Red Pill Media published a post claiming that “Israel did [9/11],” which garnered over 200,000 views.

Right-wing figure Tucker Carlson used his response to the attacks in Iran as an opportunity to again promote the antisemitic conspiracy theory of Israeli involvement in 9/11. During his March 2 episode for his show, Carlson advanced a number of antisemitic conspiracy theories, including that Israel had foreknowledge of 9/11 and has orchestrated U.S. involvement in other conflicts through manufactured intelligence, while framing Israel as covertly manipulating American foreign policy for its own agenda. 

Carlson also referred to classic antisemitic tropes such as dual loyalty, accusing American officials like U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, and others, of “loyalty to Israel over the United States,” and claiming more broadly that “a bunch of people in the U.S. government… do not put the United States before the interests of Israel.”

(YouTube/Screenshot)

Carlson further portrayed Jewish influence in the U.S. as a hidden, malevolent force driving the country toward war through deception and "demonic" control,  and made unsubstantiated claims about Gulf states arresting “Mossad” agents planning bombings.

Owens also overtly engaged in this conspiracy theory, responding to a video of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking on Fox News with the baseless claim: "You murdered 3,000 Americans on 9/11."

(Screenshot/X)

6. Purim Conspiracy / Religious Framing

Multiple actors seized on the fact that the strikes were launched just ahead of the Jewish holiday of Purim, which marks the salvation of the Jewish people from threatened annihilation in ancient Persia, to allege that the timing of the attacks was religiously motivated. 

In a lengthy X post, Haqiqatjou said Israel "made sure to initiate its attack against Iran in Purim," calling Purim "perhaps the most evil and violent festival found in any religion" and claiming Israeli Jews are using it "to call for the extermination of not only Palestinians but also Iranians."

E. Michael Jones, an antisemitic Traditionalist Catholic writer and podcaster who promotes the view that Jews are dedicated to propagating and perpetrating attacks on the Catholic Church, posted to X: "More proof that Jews control America's foreign policy. Trump authorizes Purim attack to smite Amalek."

White supremacist podcaster Nick Fuentes also picked up this narrative, overtly attributing the conflict in Iran to "the Jews" during a March 2 livestream, whom, he said, were “doing it on the Jewish holiday of Purim, it's against the Persians, their mortal enemies.”

(Rumble/Screenshot)

Fuentes argued that other influencers blaming Israel or Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alone are missing the point, and that his show is "the only show that will talk about the Jewishness of all this."

“Tucker Carlson says it's got nothing to do with Judaism, really? This Jewish war of aggression by the Jewish state? For Greater Israel on the Jewish holiday of Purim, against the Jewish enemy, the Amalekites, has nothing to do with Judaism? I guess, bro...,” Fuentes said.

7. AI-Generated and Manipulated Media / Manufacturing Battlefield Reality

The operation in Iran has accelerated the use of AI-generated or manipulated video to give a false battlefield reality, sow confusion, and shape public perception of the conflict in ways that serve antisemitic and/or anti-Israel narratives.

Multiple videos purporting to show devastating attacks on Israeli cities circulated widely on X, several of which appear to have been AI-generated, including one traced to a TikTok account that frequently posts AI-generated content, researchers say.

(Screenshot/X)

A separate video purportedly showing airstrikes over Tel Aviv amassed over 21 million views on X before a reporter and disinformation expert identified the video as AI-generated, citing "multiple errors consistent with AI clips."  

This assessment was further supported by a notable failure of platform-integrated AI tools to flag the content. When one user asked Grok to verify the video, the LLM-powered tool described it as "authentic citizen footage," attributing its lack of corroboration to Israeli wartime military censorship — effectively lending false credibility to fabricated content and demonstrating how AI systems can themselves become vectors for disinformation.

The video was removed, and X has since announced that it would suspend users from its revenue-sharing program for 90 days for posting AI-generated videos of armed conflict without disclosure, with permanent suspension for subsequent violations.