LAS VEGAS — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) spoke out against Tucker Carlson for giving a friendly platform to Nick Fuentes, the neo-Nazi influencer, on his podcast this week, calling it “a wake-up call” for the Republican Party as it grapples with rising antisemitism within its ranks.

“How many times does he have to play footsie with this antisemitic view of the Jewish people and Israel until you figure out that’s what he believes?” Graham said of Carlson in an interview with Jewish Insider on Friday on the sidelines of the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership summit at the Venetian Resort. 

Graham said that “antisemitism has been with us, and it’ll always be with us, and the goal is to limit it, fight back and contain it.”

“I am confident that if anybody in the Republican world ran for office as a member of Congress, for the Senate or any major elected office and spouted this garbage, it would get creamed,” Graham told JI. “This is a niche market. It won’t sell to a wider audience.”

Carlson, a frequent critic of Graham, has faced backlash this week for failing to challenge Fuentes’ antisemitic views, including praising Adolf Hitler and engaging in Holocaust denialism. During the interview, Fuentes railed against “organized Jewry” while Carlson expressed his disdain for Christian Zionists including Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, saying he had been seized by a “brain virus.”

“To suggest that evangelical Christians are confused or got it wrong says more about the critic than it does evangelical Christians,” Graham countered. “The guy that’s doing the talking is a raving antisemite white nationalist, and if you want to hook your wagon to that, you’ll have a very short journey in the Republican Party.”

Graham said that Carlson and Fuentes “did us all a favor by being so brazen. It’s kind of a wake-up call.”

Even as Carlson, a close ally of Vice President JD Vance, remains influential in the GOP, Graham argued that “being anti-Israel in the modern Republican Party is a death sentence to political viability.”

“We’re not gonna put up with that crap. We’re not that kind of party,” he said.

The South Carolina senator also joined other senators in raising concerns about the president of the Heritage Foundation, Kevin Roberts, who has faced widespread criticism for defending Carlson’s interview and for soft-pedaling Fuentes views in a video he posted to social media on Thursday. “That’s the decision made, and we’ll see how well it plays in the marketplace,” Graham, who is facing a primary challenge next year from a former Heritage Foundation staffer, reiterated. 

Amid the criticism Friday, Roberts posted a follow-up statement on X where he condemned Fuentes’ “vicious antisemitic ideology, his Holocaust denial, and his relentless conspiracy theories that echo the darkest chapters of history” but made no further comment about Carlson.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who spoke at the RJC summit on Thursday night, and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have spoken out against right-wing antisemitism after Carlson’s Fuentes interview.

Vance also drew scrutiny this week from conservative Jewish critics after he spoke at a campus Turning Point USA event and avoided  forcefully confronting students who had asked him questions about Israel that used antisemitic tropes, such as suggesting Jewish control of U.S. politics and claiming that Jews oppress Christians.

Graham said he believed that the students were “espousing stereotypes about the Jewish people and the Jewish state,” which he called “pretty unnerving.”

“I think JD handled it well,” he said, but added: “I wish he would have been more direct.”

“I would have been real direct and said, ‘Let me tell you, if you think our relationship with Israel is less than beneficial, you’re ignorant. Israel’s fighting our fight,” he said. “My goal is to keep the threats over there so they don’t come here,” he added. “My goal is not to fight alone, to have other people fighting with us. And you can’t have a better partner in the fight than Israel.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) expressed skepticism on Monday that Hamas will comply with disarmament requirements in its U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement with Israel, saying that finishing off the terrorist group may require further confrontation from Israel. 

“To expect Hamas to disarm without the threat of confrontation is unrealistic,” Graham wrote in a post on X. “Therefore, it is my growing belief that Hamas is not going to disarm but instead is in the process of consolidating power in Gaza by attacking those who oppose them.” 

Few Republican lawmakers have thus far questioned if President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan — which has brought all the living hostages back to Israel — will be sufficient to take Hamas out of power in Gaza. 

“Under the current approach, every day that goes by allows Hamas to get stronger and more lethal,” said Graham. “The world needs to understand that Israel cannot tolerate this outcome. If Israel feels it needs to reengage in Gaza to finish Hamas off, they have my full support.”

Israel currently controls 58% of Gaza, marked by a yellow “initial withdrawal line,” while Hamas maintains a presence in the western part of the enclave. The terrorist group has failed to disarm or relinquish power yet, as indicated in Phase 1 of Trump’s proposal, instead mobilizing more fighters and clashing with rival Palestinian gangs. 

Phase 2 Trump’s plan envisions an International Stabilization Force, comprised of troops from mediating countries, to stabilize the Gaza Strip. However, several leaders have indicated they have  little appetite to participate, including the King of Jordan, who told the BBC “nobody will want to touch” peace enforcing.

“I completely agree with the King of Jordan’s analysis regarding what it takes to stabilize the Gaza strip,” Graham said on X. “To expect an international force to go to war with Hamas to require their disarmament is unrealistic.”

With Trump’s plan at a standstill, experts say a new strategy may be required in Gaza.  

“If Hamas refuses to disarm and no international force steps forward that is prepared to do the hard work of forcibly disarming it, why should the world grant Hamas a total veto over positive movement on the rest of Trump’s 20-point plan?” John Hannah, a senior fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, told Jewish Insider. “There’s no doubt that both in Israel and the United States there is active discussion of how to take advantage of this.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Thursday floated the possibility of punitive tariffs and visa restrictions in response to Norges Bank Investment Management’s — the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund — decision to sell its stake in the American machinery company Caterpillar in response to the Israeli military’s use of its products.

“To those who run Norway’s sovereign wealth fund: if you cannot do business with Caterpillar because Israel uses their products, maybe it’s time you’re made aware that doing business or visiting America is a privilege, not a right,” Graham said on X.

Caterpillar is a frequent target of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaigns.

“Maybe it’s time to put tariffs on countries who refuse to do business with great American companies. Or maybe we shouldn’t give visas to individuals who run organizations that attempt to punish American companies for geopolitical differences,” the South Carolina senator continued. “I would urge you to reconsider your shortsighted decision.”

He had said a day prior that the decision by the Norwegian fund — the largest in the world — is “beyond offensive’ and “will not go unanswered.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) championed a U.S. defense agreement with Lebanon during a bipartisan congressional delegation to Beirut on Tuesday, saying it would be the “biggest change in the history of Lebanon.”

Speaking at a press conference alongside Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), Graham asked, “How many nations have a defense agreement with the United States? Very few. … The number of nations that America is willing to go to war for is very few. Why do I mention Lebanon being in that group? You have one thing going for you that is very valuable to me: religious diversity.”

“Christianity is under siege in the Mideast. Christians are being slaughtered and run out of all over, all over the region, except here. And so what I am going to tell my colleagues is, ‘Why don’t we invest in defending religious diversity in the Mideast? Why don’t we have a relationship with Lebanon where we would actually defend what you’re doing?’” he continued. 

“I think it’s in America’s interest to defend religious diversity, whether you’re Druze or Alawite or a Christian or whatever. The idea that America may one day have a defense agreement with Lebanon changes Lebanon unlike any single thing I could think of,” Graham said.

During their visit, the delegation, joined by U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, diplomat Morgan Ortagus and U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson, met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and head of the Lebanese Armed Forces Gen. Rodolph Haykal.

During the press conference, the lawmakers conveyed their encouragement over the progress that Lebanon has made in military, financial and democratic reforms and their hope that the government would be able to execute the changes fully. 

“We all see Lebanon is at a point of change. We’re here to tell you that we’re buying into that change, that we support what you’re trying to do. That if you do make an effort to disarm Hezbollah, we’ll be there trying to help. We’ll try to help your military, we’ll try to help your economy. We think that’s the right thing for you to do, and it benefits the entire region,” Graham said.

“If you’re able to pull this off, Saudi Arabia will look at you differently. If you’re able to pull it off, Israel will look at you differently. If you’re able to pull this off, there’ll be a groundswell of support in Washington to help your economy and to help your military,” he continued.

“Congress is looking at Lebanon differently because you’re behaving differently. If you continue to go down this road, I think you have a wonderful opportunity to secure your nation, economically, militarily, like anything I’ve seen since I’ve been coming to the region with [the late Sen.] John McCain (R-AZ). It all depends on what happens with the Hezbollah file and the Palestinian file.”

Wilson compared recent changes in Lebanon and in Syria with the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. “There’s such an opportunity for stability, security, for economic prosperity, for everyone,” he said.

Graham also emphasized the potential for improved relations between Israel and Lebanon if Hezbollah was contained. “If I were the Israeli prime minister, I would be looking at Lebanon differently after Hezbollah was disarmed by the Lebanese people,” he said.

Pressed by reporters on what steps Israel is taking to disarm Hezbollah and de-escalate conflict, Graham answered, “Why do you need Israel to tell you to disarm Hezbollah? That’s not Israel’s decision. That’s yours. Whether [the IDF] withdraw[s from southern Lebanon] or not, it depends on what you do. So don’t tell me anymore, ‘We’re not going to disarm Hezbollah until Israel does something.’ If that’s the model, you’re going to fail.” 

“The reason you disarm Hezbollah is because it’s best for you. This country is going backward, not forward, if you don’t follow through with disarming the Palestinians and Hezbollah and making the Lebanese army the central repository of arms for the nation. If you don’t do that, you’re going nowhere,” the South Carolina senator said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement yesterday that he “acknowledges the significant step taken by the Lebanese Government” and that “in light of this important development, Israel stands ready to support Lebanon in its efforts to disarm Hezbollah and to work together towards a more secure and stable future for both nations.”

Netanyahu pledged that if the Lebanese Armed Forces “take the necessary steps to implement the disarmament of Hezbollah, Israel will engage in reciprocal measures.”

Shaheen and Graham, both of whom serve on the Senate Appropriations Committee, also spoke about their support for supplying U.S. funding for the LAF and Lebanon’s financial recovery.

Shaheen called the steps Lebanon’s government has pledged to make in military and banking reforms “critical” and said the lawmakers will “continue to press for support, through legislation and through the appropriations process, support for the avenue that Lebanon has chosen for your future.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that future military actions by Israel must be “conducted in a way to maintain support here at home” amid GOP backlash to the Jewish state’s most recent operations in Syria and the strike that killed three at a Catholic church in Gaza.

Speaking to Jewish Insider from the Capitol on Tuesday, Graham warned that Christians in the West Bank must not face the same fate as other Middle Eastern Christian communities, including in Syria, where as many as 1,000 Christians were killed between the fall of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in November and March of this year under the new Syrian government. 

“Support for Christians throughout the region is eroded, and we need to make sure that doesn’t happen in the West Bank,” Graham told JI when asked how Israel had handled the backlash against its recent military actions in Gaza, last week’s fatal strike on the Holy Family Catholic Church, the only Catholic church in Gaza, and reports of an arson attack in the area of the fifth-century Church of St. George in the West Bank town of Taybeh — which an Israeli police probe found to be unfounded, stating that the fire had been “in an adjacent open area, with no buildings, no crops, and no infrastructure of the site damaged.”

“I think it’s very important for us to stand up for Americans wherever they’re at, minority faiths, particularly the Christian faith. As to Israel, it is the most tolerant place in the region for minorities. They’re in a war for their lives, but we’ve got to make sure that the war is conducted in a way to maintain support here at home,” he continued.

His comments reflect recent unease within the Trump administration over Israel’s latest military actions. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee visited the Church of St. George on Saturday, where he decried the attack as an “act of terror” and demanded “harsh consequences” for the perpetrators, while White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that President Donald Trump was “caught off guard” by the moves. 

The strike on the church in Gaza killed three and injured 10, including a priest. Following a conversation between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the latter publicly apologized and vowed to investigate what his office described in a statement as “stray ammunition” hitting the house of worship. 

The South Carolina senator added that the Taybeh fire and the killing of 20-year-old Palestinian American Saifullah Musallet in the West Bank earlier this month, which the IDF is investigating as possibly being perpetrated by Israeli settlers, should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. 

“The attempted arson, whatever you want to call it, I don’t know who did it but I’m glad the church was saved. The Israeli police said that no damage was done. Just keep looking. The 20-year-old Palestinian American, keep investigating,” Graham said, going on to praise Netanyahu’s decision to call Pope Leo XIV after the church attack in Gaza.

Graham emphasized his continued support for Israel, which he argued should be differentiated as a state and a people from individual or small groups of Israelis committing acts of violence in the West Bank.

“There may be some rogue settlers, but they are not Israel. I think Israel, through its very founding, has demonstrated religious tolerance better than any country in the region, and, quite frankly, Israel is about as good as any place in the world. Do you have some aggressive settlers? Maybe so, I don’t know, but I’m not going to judge an entire country by some people,” Graham said.

“The issue is not whether Israel has abandoned Christians. It’s whether or not the damage that’s been done to the Christian community, will those responsible be held accountable?” he asked. 

Graham said he hoped to be helpful to both sides as daylight between the White House and Netanyahu over Israel’s actions in Syria entered public view, explaining that he was amenable to the points of view of the Trump administration and the Israelis. 

“As to Israel, their security concerns in Syria are legitimate. They’re very important to me, but I also want to help the president with his efforts to integrate the country. So there’s some tension, and I hope we can clear it up,” he said.

He explained that finding out which parties were responsible for the recent attacks on Druze minorities in the war-torn country was a critical next step, and would help establish whether the U.S. needs to reimpose sanctions on Syria.

“It has been the policy of the Trump administration to lift sanctions and give [Syrian leader Abu Mohammed al] Jolani a chance. This fight between the Druze and the Bedouins, what role did the Syrian army play? I don’t know. Israel has been making the argument that the Syrian regular army forces were part of the massacre, that’s very important to me. If that proves to be the case, we’ll reimpose sanctions. If it proves not to be the case, then I want to know that also,” Graham said. 

“What role did the Syrian army regime forces play in all this and how much control do they have of this coalition that they formed? That, to me, is the most important question. Is Syria under the command and control of the government? If it’s not, what factions are outside their control? And let’s try to fix it,” he continued.