Candace Owens fuels controversy with 'false flag' claims targeting Israel and US conservatives
Candace Owens fuels controversy with new 'false flag' conspiracy claims, accusing Israel of orchestrating global events and invoking antisemitic rhetoric.
Far-right commentator Candace Owens posted a new round of conspiracy claims on X in the past 24 hours, accusing Israel of orchestrating “false flags,” invoking Mossad in sweeping allegations, and suggesting shadowy pro-Israel influence inside US conservatism as Israel and the US carry out military operations connected to Iran.
In the posts, Owens largely avoided explicitly referencing Jews, using coded language long associated with antisemitic conspiracy theories.
What “false flag” means, and how Owens used it
A “false flag” claim accuses a government or group of secretly staging an attack, then blaming someone else to justify retaliation or gain political advantage. The phrase comes from the old naval practice of flying a deceptive flag to disguise a ship’s identity.
Owens used “false flag” language to imply Israel routinely engineers major events and then manipulates the world into war. That framing pushes a familiar conspiracy template: Israel as a hidden puppet master that manufactures crises, controls narratives, and tricks other nations into action.
What the Lavon Affair was, and why it is misused
Owens invoked the “Lavon Affair” as part of a broader claim that Israeli “false flags are the Israeli way.”
The Lavon Affair refers to a covert Israeli operation in Egypt in 1954, later known as “Operation Susannah.” Israeli operatives recruited local Jews and others to plant small incendiary devices targeting Western-linked civilian sites. The goal, according to widely reported historical accounts, was to create instability and strain relations between Egypt and Western powers. The operation was exposed after failures and arrests, triggering a major political scandal inside Israel over responsibility and oversight.
Conspiracy theorists frequently cite the Lavon Affair as a catch-all “proof” that Israel stages events everywhere and at any scale. That leap takes one historical scandal and turns it into an all-purpose allegation about Jewish or Israeli behavior, which is the move that gives the reference its antisemitic power in online discourse.
Owens also escalated her ongoing public feud with Turning Point USA, promoting her podcast and suggesting the group had been “taken over” by pro-Israel forces. In that exchange, she mocked the phrase “Shabbat shalom,” a traditional Jewish greeting meaning “peaceful Sabbath,” commonly exchanged on Friday evening and during Saturday.
Owens has previously circulated or flirted with “Khazarian” origin narratives, often called “Khazar theory” or “Khazarian myths.” The claims vary, but the core idea is that today’s Jews, especially Ashkenazi Jews, are “fake Jews” who descend mainly from the medieval Khazar Empire rather than from ancient Jewish communities.
Extremists use this myth for two main purposes: To deny Jewish identity and history. It tries to strip Jews of their own peoplehood by recasting Jewish communities as impostors.
To undermine the legitimacy of Jewish self-determination. It is often deployed to argue that Jews have no authentic historical connection to Israel and therefore no right to a Jewish state.
The myth shows up alongside other conspiracies that portray Jews as an invented group with secret power, which is why Jewish organizations and historians widely describe it as an antisemitic trope.
Owens’ latest posts arrived amid heightened tensions tied to Iran-related fighting. Critics warn that conspiratorial rhetoric during crises spreads quickly online, and it can translate into harassment, threats, and real-world targeting of Jewish communities when Jews are cast as the hidden engine behind war and global events.
