Far-left streamer Hasan Piker defends himself from antisemitism accusations in interview with Jewish outlet

Hasan Piker, the controversial, far-left Twitch streamer known for extreme anti-Zionism rhetoric, sat down with a Jewish publication to challenge the notion that he is antisemitic while suggesting the Democratic Party should be "the anti-Israel party."

Piker participated in a video call with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, which bills itself as a publication "founded to tell the stories about Jewish people and Jewish communities that no other publication would," for an interview published Monday.  

Piker, who was raised a Muslim, has repeatedly rejected claims he is antisemitic, while continuing to virulently oppose Israel and call for the Democratic Party to follow his lead. 

"I do still believe that Zionism is a racist ideology. Like, I genuinely believe that," Piker told JTA. "If there was real expression of democracy in this country, yes, the Democratic Party would be the anti-Israel party."

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He suggested his fans would "yell" at him for having the conversation, insisting, "People are going to say, ‘What are you doing? This is Jewish exceptionalism. Why do you care so much about making sure that Jews like you?’" 

Piker has called Orthodox Jews "inbred," defended Hamas as being "a thousand times better" than Israel, mocked discussions of antisemitism on college campuses, and slammed a listener who criticized the Oct. 7 massacre as a "bloodthirsty violent pig dog." 

"I still think that there’s value in reaching as many people as possible and helping them understand where I’m coming from," Piker told JTA when explaining why he participated in the interview. 

Piker has also minimized reports of mass sexual assault during the Oct. 7 attacks, according to The Times of Israel, saying it "doesn’t matter if f---ing rapes happened on October 7. It doesn’t change the dynamic for me."

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Piker has become a point of sharp division within the Democratic Party. Some candidates have chosen to campaign with him, while others warn that legitimizing him is wrong and gives Republicans political fodder. He told JTA that the party wouldn’t lose its base of Jewish supporters even if it became an anti-Israel party. 

"American Jews are American. If they were Israeli, they would live in Israel," Piker told the outlet, pointing to the election of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in a city with a high Jewish population as evidence.  

"At the end of the day, American Jews have American problems, right? And I don’t think Israel is as high of a priority," he continued. "For many American Jews, they might even say, ‘Hasan, how dare you say this. You don’t know this. That’s not the case. It is very important for me.’ And then they’ll go and vote for American-related issues." 

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Piker suggested antisemitism is a distraction for American liberals. 

"If you see what Israel is doing to be a problem, as I do, and you want to solve this problem, you have to dial in on the actual root of this problem," Piker said. "And I find that antisemitism, oftentimes, is moving people to focus on Jewish people rather than the actual issue itself."

Piker also admitted he understands why many consider him antisemitic.

"That’s why I’m having this conversation," Piker said.

Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.