Israel denied entry to popular American content creator Tyler Oliveira and deported him back to the United States Monday immediately after he landed at Ben Gurion Airport. The decision came after Oliveira, who produces controversial content and is associated with the American right wing, published a series of videos criticizing Orthodox Jewish communities in New York and New Jersey.
Oliveira’s deportation followed a public exchange online. Last month, Oliveira asked his followers on X, “Do you think Israel will let me into the country?” Oliveira runs a YouTube channel with more than 9 million subscribers. He first rose to prominence in 2018 following a collaboration with popular creator MrBeast, initially focusing on challenge videos and street interviews with passersby. In recent years, he shifted toward investigative-style content about various communities in the United States and around the world.
His latest videos focused on the Satmar community in Kiryas Joel, New York, and the large ultra-Orthodox community in Lakewood, New Jersey. The videos, which amassed more than 9 million views, featured ominous editing and slanted narration. Oliveira claimed he was exposing a “Jewish invasion” of these towns. He accused ultra-Orthodox residents of systematically defrauding the welfare system and exploiting government assistance programs. During the videos, he confronted local residents and urged them to return to Israel.
Oliveira has previously been accused several times of publishing racist content, distorting quotes, filming people in vulnerable situations without permission and using biased editing that promotes stereotypes about minorities. His name was also linked to the U.S. election campaign after JD Vance, then a vice presidential candidate, cited an Oliveira video alleging that immigrants in Springfield were eating pets. The claim was later proven false and nearly cost the Republican Party in the election.
Following the publication of the videos about the Jewish communities, Patreon suspended Oliveira’s account and blocked his ability to raise money from supporters. At the same time, he received backing from prominent figures on the American right, underscoring growing divisions within the conservative camp over antisemitism and Israel. Right-wing activist Nick Fuentes defended Oliveira, claiming that “there is a double standard when it comes to Jews.”
Last week, Oliveira appeared on Tucker Carlson’s podcast and again claimed that the lifestyle of Jews in the ultra-Orthodox towns he visited was designed “to squeeze and exploit welfare systems to the fullest. It’s not accidental — it’s premeditated.” He also complained about the criticism he faced, telling Carlson, “Apparently there are a lot of powerful Jewish people who own major media companies and websites that seem to cave to what they view as antisemitic speech.”
Carlson defended the creator and questioned why Republicans who had praised Oliveira’s previous work on alleged welfare fraud by Somalis in Minnesota suddenly hated his reporting on an Orthodox Jewish community in New York.
The Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism released a statement explaining that the decision to bar Oliveira from entering Israel stemmed from activity that went beyond legitimate freedom of expression. The ministry stressed that Oliveira’s actions included incitement against Jews and the dissemination of content with clear antisemitic characteristics.
“I am proud that today I prevented the entry into Israel of a pathetic YouTuber who uses the harassment of Jews as a way to gain exposure on social media,” Minister Amichai Chikli said in a conversation with right-wing activist Laura Loomer, who is also known as a far-right agitator and promoter of racism, homophobia and conspiracy theories, according to the article’s editorial note.
Israel has previously barred the entry of foreign activists and public figures who came to promote anti-Israel sentiment or support the boycott movement. In 2019, Israel refused entry to U.S. congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar because of their public support for the BDS movement. The decision was made under a 2017 law allowing the interior minister to deny entry to foreign nationals who call for a boycott of the state.
In another notable case in 2018, American left-wing activist Ariel Gold, then an official with the Code Pink organization, was deported from Ben Gurion Airport on the grounds that she had arrived to provoke confrontations and promote the boycott movement. Prominent intellectuals have also faced similar refusals, including in 2010, when Jewish American linguist and anti-Zionist activist Noam Chomsky was denied entry.
First published: 18:48, 05.12.26