U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack used an appearance at the Global Security Forum in Doha to argue that antisemitism was not a significant force before the founding of the modern state of Israel and that Iran’s government should not be characterized as evil, according to an account of his remarks published by The Daily Wire.
Barrack, a longtime Trump ally serving as Washington’s envoy in Ankara, framed his upbringing as evidence for a broader claim about regional tolerance. He described growing up in a Lebanese immigrant family in a Jewish neighborhood and said antisemitism in the United States “just didn’t exist” in any meaningful way when he was young. He extended that assessment to the Middle East, saying Jews had lived “side by side forever” in the region and that Zionism only became “another issue” in 1948.
He then turned to Iran. Asked about the Islamic Republic, Barrack rejected the idea that its government is fundamentally malign. “It’s not an evil regime,” he said, describing the country’s religious character as a matter of faith and practice that Americans should respect.
Praise for Murphy and Qatar
The ambassador also had warm words for Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), whom he called a “sensational Democratic senator” — a notable compliment given Murphy’s record of criticizing Israeli policy and pressing for conditions on U.S. military support. Barrack went on to praise Qatar, which hosts a major U.S. airbase and has served as a mediator in regional conflicts, saying the Gulf state had been “endlessly patient” with the United States.
The Daily Wire’s report takes direct issue with Barrack’s historical claim, arguing that the record before 1948 is filled with persecution of Jewish communities across the Middle East and North Africa. The outlet cites the treatment of Jewish tribes in Medina in the 620s, the expulsion of Jews from the Hijaz under Caliph Umar, the 1033 sack of Fez in which roughly 6,000 Jews were killed, and the 1066 Granada massacre that destroyed an estimated 1,500 Jewish families.
It also points to Mamluk restrictions barring Jews from the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron beginning in 1267 — a ban that held for some 700 years — and the 1679 Mawza Exile, when Yemeni authorities forced Jews into the desert and, by some accounts, as many as two-thirds died. The report further lists the 1834 Safed and Hebron pogroms, the 1840 Damascus blood libel, violence in Fez in 1912, and the 1941 Farhud in Baghdad, where at least 180 Jews were killed and some estimates run far higher.
A Pattern of Controversy
According to the report, the Doha remarks fit a longer pattern. In December 2025, at the Doha Forum, Barrack questioned whether Israel qualifies as a democracy and floated a “benevolent monarchy” as a model for the region, while advocating that Turkey — which supports Hamas — take part in a Gaza stabilization force.
In April 2026, speaking in Turkey, he drew a moral equivalence between Israel and Hezbollah, calling them “equally untrustworthy,” and praised Ankara for declining to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization. The comments drew criticism from the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL); commentator Mark Levin reportedly described Barrack as an “Erdogan mouthpiece.”
Later, after Israel struck a Turkish-linked airbase in Syria, Barrack publicly blamed Israel for what he called “unnecessary escalation,” then repeated on a podcast that the Golan Heights are “occupied territory” — a position at odds with stated U.S. policy. The report says the episode forced a diplomatic retraction two days later.
The Daily Wire’s account also accuses Barrack of whitewashing Tehran’s domestic record, citing the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988, the serial killings of dissidents known as the “Chain Murders,” and the shooting of protesters in the streets. It references the January 2026 crackdowns, saying more than 7,000 people were killed according to some counts, with other estimates reaching into the tens of thousands.
Barrack has not publicly responded to the criticism of his Doha remarks. The State Department did not issue any immediate statement on the ambassador’s comments in the outlet’s report.
The episode puts a fresh spotlight on the internal tensions within Trump’s foreign policy team over the Middle East, where the president’s personal alignment with Israel has coexisted with envoys who take a more accommodating line toward Ankara and Doha. Barrack’s remarks in Doha will likely intensify questions from Capitol Hill about whether his public statements reflect administration policy or his own views.
Source: www.dailywire.com — https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-ambassador-defends-iran-rewrites-history-on-jews