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?”
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
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.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
