Tucker Carlson’s ‘Banned in Israel’ Film Is Just Old News Repackaged

From the man who revived the “Al-Aqsa is in danger” conspiracy for a Western audience and falsely claimed he was detained at Ben Gurion Airport, comes yet another round of misinformation.

This time, Tucker Carlson is promoting via his online channel, what he calls a “banned in Israel” documentary exposing the alleged dark dealings of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Corruption. “Anti-U.S. geopolitical maneuvers.” “A side of power that regular citizens were never meant to see.”

Sounds explosive.

It isn’t.

As noted by analyst (and occasional HonestReporting contributor) Nick Matau, this is little more than a “nothing-burger.”

The documentary Carlson is selling to his subscribers — at $6 a month — was not produced by his network and is hardly new. It was released in 2024 and has been widely available online and in select theaters ever since.

In fact, it was prominent enough to be nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 2025 Academy Awards.

So much for “hidden truth.”

Yes, the film cannot be officially screened in Israel. But not for the reasons Carlson suggests.

The claim that it is banned because it “exposes” Netanyahu is misleading. The real reason is far more mundane: the documentary includes leaked police interview footage tied to Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial.

Under Israeli law, broadcasting such material would violate privacy protections, which is why it cannot be formally shown. As reported here, this is a legal issue, not a political cover-up.

And in practice? Israelis can still watch it online via VPNs or streaming platforms. It has also been reviewed across the Israeli media spectrum.

Hardly the mark of a suppressed exposé.

Carlson’s promotion leans heavily on one supposed bombshell: that Netanyahu allowed Qatari funds to flow into Gaza.

One advertisement claims: “We were lied to about Benjamin Netanyahu’s dealings with Hamas.”

But who exactly is “we”? Anyone following Israeli politics over the past decade would recognize this as old news.

This policy has been:

• Widely discussed after October 7
• Examined in a 2021 analysis
• Criticized by Israeli politicians as early as 2020
• Reported in 2018

To name only a few examples.

Whether one views the policy as pragmatic containment or strategic miscalculation, it was never secret.

The only people likely to find this “shocking” are those newly introduced to the subject or who, like Carlson, have only recently found the Jewish State to be a significant topic of interest.

Why push a two-year-old, widely discussed film as if it’s breaking new ground?

A few possibilities stand out:

1. Exploiting Audience Gaps
Carlson’s audience may not be deeply familiar with Israeli politics. By framing old information as newly uncovered, he creates the illusion of exclusive insight — and monetizes it.

2. Advancing a Narrative on the Iran War
Carlson has positioned himself as a leading critic of US involvement in the war. The documentary is being repurposed to suggest shadowy forces are driving American policy. Or as he puts it, “As America dives deeper into the Iran War, understanding who is pulling the strings matters more than ever.”

3. Staying Relevant in a Shifting Debate
As segments of the American right reassess US-Israel ties, repackaging familiar material as scandal helps Carlson remain central to the conversation even if the premise is misleading.

There is no hidden documentary.
There is no suppressed truth.
There is only old information repackaged, reframed, and resold.

And once again, Carlson is counting on his audience not knowing the difference.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.