Conspiracy theorist Naomi Wolf says Anthony Fauci ‘doesn’t work for us’ after getting $1 million from Israel
(JTA) — Conspiracy theorist Naomi Wolf suggested that Dr. Anthony Fauci is beholden to Israel rather than serving the United States.
Wolf, an anti-vaccine activist who has also promoted conspiracy theories about ebola and ISIS, appeared Monday on Fox News to criticize pandemic restrictions promoted by Fauci. The one-time Democratic consultant said Fauci was “so conflicted” and doesn’t serve the cause of “public health for the American people.”
“He doesn’t work for us,” she said in a segment reposted by the liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America. Among the examples of purported conflicts Wolf cited was an award that Fauci received from an Israeli university.
“He got a million dollars from the state of Israel for a humanitarian gift,” she said.
In fact, Fauci received the Dan David Prize, a prestigious $1 million award that comes not from the Israeli government but from the Dan David Foundation affiliated with Tel Aviv University. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was cited for achievement in public health and praised, according to a statement, for “speaking truth to power in a highly charged political environment.”
The Fox host who interviewed Wolf, conservative pundit Ben Domenech, did not address Wolf’s mention of Israel. After the statement, Domenech said Wolf’s skepticism of public health restrictions would be “vindicated.”
Wolf has harshly criticized Israel before. In 2019, responding to a Twitter poll asking “Which nation is the biggest threat to peace in the world?” she replied, “Where is Israel?”
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Dive In
-
Fast Forward Language apps are putting Hebrew school in teens’ back pockets. But do they work?
-
Fast Forward Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say
-
Fast Forward Trump administration can deport Mahmoud Khalil for undermining U.S. foreign policy on antisemitism, judge rules
-
Fast Forward Is the Passover Seder Zionist?
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion My Jewish moms group ousted me because I work for J Street. Is this what communal life has come to?
- 2
Fast Forward Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say
- 3
Fast Forward How Coke’s Passover recipe sparked an antisemitic conspiracy theory
- 4
Politics Meet America’s potential first Jewish second family: Josh Shapiro, Lori, and their 4 kids
In Case You Missed It
-
News Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy
-
Opinion This Nazi-era story shows why Trump won’t fix a terrifying deportation mistake
-
Opinion I operate a small Judaica business. Trump’s tariffs are going to squelch Jewish innovation.
-
Fast Forward Language apps are putting Hebrew school in teens’ back pockets. But do they work?
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.