Tucker Carlson got into a heated exchange on Israeli TV when he suggested Israel was a terror regime that had “murdered” thousands of Palestinian children. Carlson’s claim came a few minutes after Carlson doubled down on previously calling Israel “probably the most violent country in the world.”

Hadashot (News) 13 anchor Udi Segal interviewed the former cable news star on Tuesday. Carlson took issue with Segal using the phrase “Iran terror regime” at one point — and let him know about it.

“As an Israeli, you should pause before using the phrase ‘terror regime,’ since you live in a country that just murdered thousands of children in Gaza,” Carlson said. “We should all pull back a little bit on the rhetoric like that. I’m not defending Iran, but I’m just saying — ‘terror regime,’ it’s a little hard to hear that from an Israeli right now, I have to say.”

That comment clearly irritated Segal, who said it was obvious Carlson wanted him to equate “a democratic government that’s acting — maybe not to your taste — but from self-defense, to a terror regime in Iran that is terrorizing its own citizens, that [is] hanging gay people from cranes with Islamic extremist sharia.”

“It’s ridiculous,” Segal told him, while facing both palms upward. “You think that Israel and Iran is in the same equation, really?”

“I don’t think Israel and Iran are the same by many measures,” Carlson said.

The two broadcasters then started talking over each other for a moment.

“That is what [you’re] saying!” Segal said. “This is why people are saying you are only targeting Israel.”

Segal was referring to critics saying Carlson has been obsessed with Israel in recent years, and especially since the Iran war started. Carlson has said Israel is “in charge” of President Donald Trump and that the Iran war was being “waged” strictly on behalf of Israel.

Trump has pushed back on those claims, saying “if anything, I might’ve forced Israel’s hand.”

“I’m not targeting anybody, I don’t have a military, I’m a podcaster. So I don’t target people,” Carlson responded. “What I’m saying is true, which is, the government of Iran’s behavior in some cases is disgusting and immoral. But the behavior of the Israeli government in Gaza is disgusting and immoral.”

He then said Israel is not a democracy because “there are millions of people who live under Israeli control who cannot vote.” Carlson continued by saying Israel’s approach to the war in Gaza was “wrong,” and that nothing about the Hamas terror attacks on October 7, 2023, would persuade him otherwise.

There were other tense moments in the interview. Segal, a few minutes later, asked Carlson about labeling the war in Gaza a “genocide,” to which Carlson said, “I don’t really care” how it’s described.

“You can call it genocide or ethnic cleansing, you can call it a crime, a sin, an atrocity,” he said. “You’re more upset by how I described the murder of children than you are at the murder of children.”

Segal said that was not true.

And earlier in the interview, Segal played a clip of Carlson saying on his podcast that Israel was “probably the most violent country in the world.”

“Are you serious?” Segal said after the clip ended.

Carlson didn’t ditch his claim. He said that “no country — and I say this with sadness — has boasted more about killing its political opponents than Israel.”

Watch the interview above via YouTube.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!