Israel blocks antisemitic YouTuber Tyler Oliveira from entering country

After confirming entry refusal, Diaspora affairs minister says, ‘Whoever comes here with the goal of sowing hatred can go back where they came from’

Israel blocked the entry of a notoriously antisemitic social media personality on Monday, stopping him at Ben Gurion Airport and deporting him back to the United States.

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said that Tyler Oliveira, who posted a series of videos earlier this year about Jews “invading” communities in New York and New Jersey, was not allowed entry into Israel.

Chikli told the Channel 14 TV station that “the party is over. Whoever comes here with the goal of sowing hatred can go back where they came from. The rule is clear: Whoever incites against us simply won’t be here.”

Oliveira, a controversial YouTube personality with millions of followers, was spotted on Sunday boarding an El Al flight to Tel Aviv. Many social media users expressed concern about his planned activity in Israel, considering his past videos.

Last month, Oliveira posted on X: “You guys think Israel will let me into the country?” On Monday, Chikli quoted the post and added a one-word response: “No.”

Laura Loomer, a right-wing online provocateur and conspiracy theorist, posted on X that Chikli told her: “I’m proud to have denied entry to Israel today to an unfortunate YouTuber who is using the harassment of Jews as a way to get clout on social media. Furthermore, let this be a lesson to all Jew-haters and supporters of BDS.”

A series of videos Oliveira posted online earlier this year purported to expose the “Jewish invasion” of towns in the US as well as communities controlled by “welfare-addicted Jews,” gaining millions of views online. Through loaded narration, ominous editing, and repeated references to ethnic separatism, Oliveira amplified antisemitic tropes while casting Orthodox Jewish communities as fraudulent drains on public resources and asking some residents why they don’t “go back to Israel.”

Oliveira, who has more than 9.3 million YouTube subscribers, first gained virality in 2018 through a collaboration with prominent YouTuber Mr. Beast and later built a following based on stunt and challenge videos. In recent years, his channel has shifted to what he calls “investigations,” in which he visits communities — from Thailand to Flint, Michigan — to produce exposé-style content. Sometimes, the videos probe alleged fraud; other times, they ridicule the people he encounters.

When he was booted from the Patreon platform following the videos, Oliveira was defended by notorious antisemite and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, who wrote: “They actually believe that the rules just shouldn’t apply to Jewish people. The double standard couldn’t be clearer.”

Last week, Oliveira appeared on the podcast of Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host who has emerged as one of the most prominent anti-Israel voices in right-wing media.

During their conversation, Oliveira told Carlson that the “entire lifestyle” of Jews in heavily Orthodox towns he visited “is designed to extract and exploit these welfare systems to the maximum degree. It is strategic. It is not happenstance. It is not coincidental. It is by design.”

Speaking about the backlash he received to the videos, Oliveira told Carlson that “seemingly, there are a lot of powerful Jewish people who own significant media enterprises, websites that seem to bend the knee at least to what they view to be antisemitic dialogue.”

Carlson himself briefly entered Israel in February for an interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, amid a feud between the two, although he chose to not leave Ben Gurion Airport before returning home. Israel had reportedly considered barring his entry, but decided against such a move so as not to cause a diplomatic incident, considering his status.

In recent years, Israel has repeatedly blocked entry to those it deemed to be visiting in order to spread anti-Israel sentiment, including a number of foreign lawmakers from both the US and Europe.

JTA contributed to this report.