Edited by: TJVNews.com
Ben Cohen, co-founder of the iconic ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s, made headlines this week following his provocative appearance on Tucker Carlson’s talk show—an hour-long interview that, while focused primarily on U.S. defense spending and opposition to the Ukraine war, veered into more controversial territory with a stark denunciation of Israel and a curious pivot in religious identity.
As reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), Cohen, once a vocal proponent of using his Jewish heritage as a platform for political advocacy—especially in defending his company’s 2021 boycott of Israeli settlements—has now declared his deep admiration for Jesus Christ, while distancing himself from Judaism altogether.
“I was born a Jew. I love Jesus Christ,” Cohen said when Carlson asked him about his spiritual beliefs. “I think the words that he said are wonderful, are amazing… if we could follow the words of Jesus Christ and think about the Sermon on the Mount and take his words seriously, we wouldn’t be doing the stuff we’re currently doing.”
As the JTA report pointed out, the remarks represent a sharp departure from Cohen’s previous public persona. Along with co-founder Jerry Greenfield, Cohen had embraced his Jewish roots explicitly in 2021 when defending Ben & Jerry’s controversial decision to halt sales in what they termed “Occupied Palestinian Territory.” In a New York Times op-ed at the time, the pair wrote, “We are the founders of Ben & Jerry’s. We are also proud Jews.” They described the boycott as a principled stance grounded in the values of justice and human rights—“core tenets of Judaism.”
But on Carlson’s show this week, Cohen’s rhetoric painted a far more alienated picture. Not only did he express discomfort with organized religion—including Christianity—but he also launched scathing criticisms of Israel, echoing charges of genocide that the Israeli government and most mainstream Jewish organizations categorically reject, according to the information provided in the JTA report.
“There seems to be some kind of strange relationship between Israel and the U.S., where, I don’t know, Israel now has the U.S. supplying weapons for its genocide,” Cohen told Carlson. “What I’m told is that Israel wants some concept of greater Israel. I mean, I don’t really know much about that.”
As the JTA report explained, the term “Greater Israel” typically refers to Israeli territorial claims encompassing Judea and Samaria and sometimes Gaza—issues tied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, not Iran, which Cohen oddly referenced. His vague but incendiary claims prompted concern and confusion, particularly given the prominent platform on which they were delivered.
Cohen went on to lambast American foreign policy more broadly, stating, “Right now what it means to be American is that we are the world’s largest arms exporter… we support the slaughter of people in Gaza, and if somebody protests the slaughter of people in Gaza, we arrest them.”
This is not Cohen’s first use of charged language regarding Israel’s military actions. As JTA previously reported, he asserted in March that the U.S.’s support for Israel’s war against Hamas was akin to “trampling on the soul of America,” even going so far as to compare Israel’s bombing campaign to mass murder by gas chamber—a statement met with outrage from Jewish organizations and Holocaust remembrance groups.
Despite the controversial nature of Cohen’s remarks, Carlson did not challenge them. Instead, the former Fox News host echoed Cohen’s admiration for Jesus Christ, leaving Cohen’s harsh critiques of Israel and unverified geopolitical assertions unexamined.
The JTA report called attention to the irony that Cohen, who once publicly relied on his Jewish identity to frame his activism as moral and conscientious, now appears to be retreating from that identity—even while doubling down on some of the most inflammatory criticisms of the Jewish state. This dissonance is all the more striking given that Cohen and Greenfield have historically emphasized that opposing Israeli policy is not inherently antisemitic.
“As Jewish supporters of the State of Israel, we fundamentally reject the notion that it is anti-Semitic to question the policies of the State of Israel,” the pair once wrote in their Times editorial. Yet today, it is unclear whether Cohen still considers himself a supporter of Israel in any meaningful sense.
The JTA report also noted that Cohen is now promoting other initiatives, including a website that supports DOGE—a program linked to Elon Musk’s efforts to reduce federal bureaucracy. His increased political engagement comes alongside reports that Cohen may be seeking to reacquire Ben & Jerry’s from parent company Unilever, though no deal has been finalized.
Cohen’s latest media appearance marks a turning point not only in his personal trajectory but also in the broader cultural conversation about the intersection of progressive politics, Jewish identity, and criticism of Israel. As the JTA report noted, his evolution raises serious questions about how prominent Jewish voices navigate their heritage while taking controversial political stances—particularly at a time of heightened antisemitism and divisive rhetoric around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Ultimately, while Ben Cohen’s appearance on Tucker Carlson’s show may have been intended to critique America’s military-industrial complex, it ended up revealing a deep ideological shift—one that distances him from the Jewish community he once championed and further complicates his legacy as a progressive activist and outspoken critic of the Jewish state.
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