JTA — As the United States and Israel engage in a joint assault on Iran, accusations that Israeli or Jewish influence drove America to war are resurfacing, reviving the uncomfortable narratives, conspiratorial rhetoric and fears of an antisemitic backlash that shadowed the Iraq conflict of the early 2000s.

On Sunday, the Anti-Defamation League warned on X that “antisemitic and anti-Zionist groups are framing the U.S.-Israel operation against the Iranian regime as the latest evidence of the so-called ‘Zionist war-machine’s’ efforts to co-opt American foreign policy to advance Israeli and/or Jewish interests.”

The ADL added that “Influencers who regularly traffic in antisemitic or anti-Zionist rhetoric are leveraging the U.S.-Israel operation… to promote longstanding conspiracy theories about Israel, such as blaming Israel for 9/11.”

These accusations are coming from far-right and far-left accounts as well as anti-Israel groups, such as Students for Justice in Palestine, that are inclined to discredit Israel. An SJP Instagram post read: “Imperialism and Zionism are one enemy — the common enemy of the entire region, and indeed, the people of the world.”

Such accusations are building on statements by both Democrats and Republicans that the war serves Israel’s interests more than America’s.

“A war between Israel and Iran may be good for Netanyahu’s domestic politics, but it will likely be disastrous for both the security of Israel, the United States, and the rest of the region,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, in a statement. “We have no obligation to follow Israel into a war we did not ask for and will make us less safe.”

Republican influencer Tucker Carlson, who reportedly met with US President Donald Trump three times in the weeks preceding the war, implied in an interview last week with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee that Trump was threatening to strike Iran at the behest of Israel — a sentiment Huckabee slammed as “offensive.”

The New York Times later reported that in one of his meetings with Trump, Carlson urged Trump to “restrain” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and that Israel’s desire to attack Iran “was the only reason the United States was even considering a strike.”

Pop culture is also picking up on the theme. On the “Weekend Update” segment of “Saturday Night Live,” comedian Michael Che joked that while critics argued Trump lacked authorization for the war on Iran, “he actually did: Netanyahu said it was OK.”

Those accusations have gotten under Israel’s skin. On Friday, Michael Leiter, Israeli Ambassador to the US, slammed Carlson as “disgusting” and “antisemitic” for, among other things, suggesting that Israel had maneuvered Trump into the war. “It’s just such nonsense to say that Netanyahu is dragging President Trump. And it’s just bordering on pornography. It’s so disgusting,” Leiter told the New York Post.

“It’s an old antisemitic trope: the Jews are in control,” he continued. “America acts in its own best interest … It’s so insulting. He’s........

© The Times of Israel