Trump religion commissioner says opposes Zionism as anti-Semitism hearing heats up over Israel

Carrie Prejean Boller, a commissioner at the White House Religious Liberty Commission, which was created to address religious freedom, is facing significant backlash from pro-Israel figures and Jewish Zionist groups following her remarks criticising Israel's genocide in Gaza and expressing opposition to Zionism.

During a fiery hearing on Monday at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, on combating anti-Semitism, Boller questioned several witnesses, including anti-Palestine figures, who had allegedly faced anti-Semitism.

Boller, the Catholic conservative activist and former Miss California, asked whether criticism of Israel, opposition to Zionism, protests over Gaza genocide, or not supporting the political state of Israel constitutes anti-Semitism.

She repeatedly pressed speakers on whether they would condemn Israel's conduct in Gaza, referring to it as what "many Americans view as a genocide".

"Catholics do not embrace Zionism, just so you know. So are all Catholics antisemites?" she asked.

The member of the commission also challenged the definition of anti-Semitism.

"I want to be clear on what the definition of antisemitism is. If I don’t support the political State of Israel, am I an antisemite, yes or no?"

Witnesses at the hearing included Yitzy Frankel, a former UCLA law student; Ari Berman, president of Yeshiva University and a Zionist rabbi; Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Harvard alumnus and Gaza genocide denier; and Bruce Pearl, a former Auburn basketball coach and Jewish activist.

Boller tuned the heat on them when they mentioned Israel and Gaza, where Israel’s genocide since October 2023, according to conservative estimates, left nearly 72,000 Palestinians dead, hundreds of thousands wounded and over two million forcibly displaced.

"Since we have mentioned Israel a total of 17 times, are you willing to condemn what Israel has done in Gaza?" she asked the witnesses.

"You won’t condemn that? Just on the record."

'This is biblical history'

Boller also defended conservative commentators Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson against accusations of antisemitism from witnesses like Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon.

Reportedly wearing a pin combining US and Palestinian flags, Boller said she watches Owens daily and insisted Owens is not anti-Semitic.

"I would really appreciate it if you would stop calling Candace Owens an anti-Semite," Boller said at the hearing. "She is not an anti-Semite. She just doesn’t support Zionism, and that really has to stop."

Boller asked Dillon if he wants to censor 1 Thessalonians 2:15, which she noted said, "The Jews who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out, and don't please God, and are contrary to all men."

An audience member disrupted proceedings and was ejected after objecting to the Boller use of biblical quotations.

Boller then questioned Christian Zionist Pastor JC Cooper whether he was concerned that saying "Jews and Romans killed Jesus" could be considered antisemitic under the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism.

"Why would that be anti-Semitic. That is simply a fact… This is biblical history," Cooper replied.

Boller also asked Leo Terrell, a former Democrat and Fox News contributor-turned Department of Justice senior counsel in the civil rights division, why he's going after anti-Israel students' free speech rights.

"What anti-Semitic actions have taken place? I've heard a lot of examples of harmful words and protests, but aren't we free in this nation to have the right to protest?" she asked.

'Not a slave to a foreign nation'

Following the hearing, far-right activists, pro-Israel lobbyists and MAGA figures are seeking her dismissal from the commission.

Laura Loomer, a far-right political activist and close ally of President Donald Trump, accused Boller of harassing Jewish panelists during the hearing and suggested she will be fired from the commission.

"@CarriePrejean1 used her time to harass Jewish panelists and blame them for military actions in Israel. Moderators had to intervene to get her to stop because she was so disruptive at the event. Hopefully she is removed. Her behaviour is not acceptable," Loomer wrote on X.

In an earlier post, she accused Boller of promoting Carlson and Owens, who Loomer calls "rabid Jew haters," and spreading anti-Jewish propaganda.

On Tuesday, amid the uproar, Boller reiterated her stance, stating on X that she will "continue to stand against Zionist supremacy in America."

"I’m a proud Catholic. I, in no way will be forced to embrace Zionism as a fulfillment of biblical prophesy. I am a free American. Not a slave to a foreign nation (in apparent reference to Israel."

Even though some reports mention internal White House discussions about her potential removal following the hearing, Boller stated she will never succumb to a "Zionist agenda."

"Can you even imagine this? a Religious Liberty Commission prepared to fire a commissioner for her Catholic faith? If that happens, it proves their mission was never religious liberty, but a Zionist agenda. I refuse to resign," she wrote on X.