Editor’s note: This story is based on an interview conducted in Jerusalem. Some statements quoted here are Laura Loomer’s allegations and opinions and have not been independently verified by The Jerusalem Post.
Visiting Israel for the first time since 2019, American right-wing activist and self-described Zionist Laura Loomer delivered a dramatic warning about the direction of US politics and its implications for Israel.
“With the rate of Islamification in America,” she said in an interview with Jerusalem Post's Editor-in-Chief Zvika Klein in The Jerusalem Post Studio, “it’s very possible we might [one day] have a President Mamdani. Israel should learn to survive without American aid.”
Loomer’s comments come days after New York elected Zohran Mamdani as mayor, an outcome she views as a symbolic turning point for Jewish life in the United States and for Israel’s position in the American debate.
To her, the election was not a local story about transit fares or housing. It was, she said, a referendum on whether rhetoric she describes as “globalizing the intifada” could become mainstream in the city with the world’s largest Jewish population. “When that becomes normal in New York, it’s a five-alarm fire for Jews everywhere,” Loomer argued.
Loomer places her own politics at a juncture that many in the US right now contest. “I’m an America First Republican and a Zionist,” she said.
“Being America First doesn’t mean being anti-Israel or isolationist. Israel is an ally. We share intelligence, technology, and values. You can prioritize your own country and still support the Jewish state’s right to exist.” Her line is aimed at a growing faction on the American right that equates an “America First” identity with hostility to Israel. “That’s not policy debate,” she insisted. “That’s targeting Jews.”
Her language about Islam is among the most provocative elements of her message and has drawn sharp criticism in the US and beyond. Loomer does not soften it.
Loomer argues Islam is a barbaric ideology
“I think Islam is a very archaic, barbaric ideology that calls for the killing of Jews and Christians,” she said. She credits some Muslim-majority governments, such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, for designating the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group and says Washington should do the same, but she also argues there is “no moderate form of Islam” in doctrinal terms.
Critics call such claims bigoted; Loomer replies that euphemisms “kill clarity” and that security debates must name the ideology she says is animating much of the current hostility to Jews and Israel.
The Mamdani victory looms large in her diagnosis. Loomer portrays him as aligned with anti-Israel activism and claims that the tone surrounding his campaign reflects a broader normalization of ideas once considered fringe.
She contends that some Jewish voters in New York misread the stakes by prioritizing local service questions over what she considers existential rhetoric.
“Why would you, as a Jew, vote for a Muslim?” she asked, before adding that in her view the issue is not about municipal competence but about a political movement’s attitude toward Israel’s right to exist. (Mamdani has rejected characterizations that he supports violence and has denied using “globalize the intifada” as a call to harm Jews; his supporters say his platform focuses on New Yorkers’ daily lives).
Israel losing information war that exploded after October 7
Beyond personalities, Loomer believes Israel is losing the information war that exploded after the October 7 massacre. She blames bot networks, foreign influence operations, and “paid propaganda,” she alleges, is tied to Qatar and China, and she faults some of Israel’s own public diplomacy choices. “Recruiting American influencers to ‘post for Israel’ can look inauthentic,” she said.
“The messaging should be grounded in facts and moral clarity, led by Israelis and credible American voices who aren’t seen as paid spokespeople.” She prefers replacing the term “antisemitism” with “Jew hate,” arguing that the former gets diluted or co-opted in US debates. “Say what it is,” she said. “It’s Jew hate.”
Loomer also advances a controversial transparency fix: have AIPAC register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act to “defuse conspiracy theories” about pro-Israel lobbying. “Register and move on,” she says, framing it as inoculation against bad-faith narratives (AIPAC describes itself as an American membership organization and rejects the premise; Loomer’s view is her opinion).
Loomer’s critique also targets figures on the American right who once championed Israel. She alleges that after some media personalities left Fox News and launched independent ventures, “there’s been an infusion of Arab money” and a corresponding shift in tone on Iran and Israel. “Years ago they called the Iranian regime evil and backed Israel without hesitation. Now they parrot Doha talking points,” she claimed. These are Loomer’s allegations and were presented as her opinion during the interview.
Looking to 2028, Loomer singles out JD Vance as the GOP’s “front-runner who risks his future by staying tethered to Tucker Carlson,” arguing that “staffing and media alliances send signals.” She says employing Carlson’s son and appearing alongside Carlson “blurs lines at a moment when conservative media is drifting on Israel,” and urges would-be standard-bearers to “break with voices mainstreaming Jew hate.”
Her skepticism about Qatar is also harsh. “Qatar harbors Hamas leadership,” she claimed, criticizing Washington’s defense relationship with the emirate and its role in regional diplomacy. “Stop rewarding a regime that shelters the masterminds of October 7,” she said.
She argued that the United States should leverage its relationships more aggressively to secure the release of hostages and to secure accountability. Her broader theme is that American policy should not, in her view, normalize relationships with states that facilitate the infrastructure of terrorism.
Beyond foreign capitals, Loomer claims US vetting failures threaten national security. She cites, as one example, a Navy medic naturalized within a year of arriving from Gaza and “trying to use his position to bring family members to the US,” and says she will use her new Pentagon press access to scrutinize “anti-American actors inside the ranks.” These are Loomer’s allegations and have not been independently verified by The Jerusalem Post.
All of this funnels into her headline claim that Israel must build the capacity to operate with far less US assistance. She presents it as practical risk management rather than a wish. “Hope is not a plan,” she said. “Prepare for a future where US aid is reduced and where an American city elects leaders who chant slogans about destroying Israel. If that future never comes, great. If it does, Israel will be ready.”
On what this preparation would look like, Loomer offers a three-part plan. First, she says, Jerusalem and its advocates should renew their explanation to Americans about how aid actually functions: joint production lines, US manufacturing jobs, shared R&D, missile defense co-development, and intelligence cooperation.
Second, diversify. “Increase European and Asian procurement ties, stockpile critical munitions, expand domestic production, build sovereign capacity in chips, cyber, drones, and precision munitions,” she said. Third, narrative independence: “Tell the story of why Israel is a frontline shield for the West against jihad, not a welfare case,” she said, warning that younger audiences consume politicized content that caricatures Israel as dependent and entitled.
Loomer pairs that strategic argument with a cultural one. She says US conservatives who now define “America First” as anti-Israel should be confronted with consistency tests.
“If you truly are isolationists, oppose interventions everywhere, not just when the word ‘Israel’ appears,” she said, pointing to silence about Christian persecution in parts of Africa and selective outrage that, in her telling, targets Jews. She argues that Jewish Americans find themselves in a precarious position, squeezed by a rising online culture of dehumanization and a political ecosystem where once-reliable allies flirt with ideas hostile to Jewish communal interests. “Jews should be safe in America,” she said. “They shouldn’t be told to ‘go make aliyah’ because bigots decided they don’t belong.”
Her insistence on documenting October 7’s sexual violence also reflects her media critique. Loomer said she visited sites of the attacks with IDF escorts and viewed internal images that have not been released publicly.
“The evidence of rape and brutal sexual assault exists,” she said, criticizing high-profile interviews in which guests or hosts claim “there’s zero evidence” and calling such denial “obscene.” She urged Israel to continue presenting evidence in ways that protect victims’ dignity but cannot be casually dismissed by online figures she accuses of laundering disinformation to millions.
Loomer levies criticism toward Tucker Carlson, other prominent voices
While sharply critical of a cohort she associates with Tucker Carlson and other prominent voices, Loomer continues to locate herself firmly inside the Trump-aligned right.
She praised President Donald Trump’s record on Israel, says she supports him unequivocally, and believes his administration’s approach to Jerusalem, Iran, and the Abraham Accords set important precedents.
Yet she also faults what she sees as a factional power struggle over “what comes after MAGA,” warning that some would like to redefine the movement in ways that render it “inherently anti-Jewish.” She argues that conservative politicians who aspire to national leadership should be more discerning about their media alliances and staff choices, because “it sends a message” to grassroots audiences about where the movement is headed.
Loomer’s rhetoric is unapologetically confrontational, and much of it will be rejected by Muslim and interfaith leaders, civil liberties groups, and many in the mainstream Jewish community.
She is aware of this and appears unmoved. “Words matter, yes, but euphemisms kill clarity,” she said. “We are watching cities change. We’re watching antisemitism rise. We’re watching elected officials echo slogans that call for the destruction of Israel. I’m going to call it as I see it.”
Her closing plea is directed both at Israelis and at American conservatives. To Israeli officials and communicators, she urged a reset that privileges credibility over celebrity and a strategy that safeguards autonomy if American politics grows colder.
To the US right, she argues that supporting Israel and putting America first “are not contradictions,” but complementary commitments for anyone who believes the West has something worth defending. “Prepare for less aid, push back on Jew hate, clean up your own movements,” she said. “That’s how you keep the alliance strong if the winds shift.”