Israel accuses Chinese state TV of antisemitism over comment on ‘influence of wealthy Jews in the US’

Israel’s Embassy in China is protesting what it describes as “blatant anti-Semitism” on a program ran by the overseas channel of state broadcaster CCTV discussing the ongoing violence in Gaza and elsewhere.

In a tweet, the embassy says “we have hoped that the times of the ‘Jew’s controlling the world’ conspiracy theories were over, unfortunately anti-Semitism has shown its ugly face again.”

“We are appalled to see blatant anti-Semitism expressed in an official Chinese media outlet,” the tweet says.

Spokesperson Erez Katz Volovelsky says the embassy has nothing to add to its tweet and has so far received no reply from CGTN, which CCTV operates for foreign audiences, similar to Russia’s RT.

On the CGTN broadcast yesterday, host Zheng Junfeng questioned whether US support for Israel is truly based on shared democratic values, saying “some people believe that US pro-Israeli policy is traceable to the influence of wealthy Jews in the US and the Jewish lobby on US foreign policy makers.”

“Jews dominate finance and internet sectors,” Zheng said, speaking in English. “So do they have the powerful lobbies some say? Possible.”

Zheng then accused the US — China’s top geopolitical rival — of using Israel as a “beachhead” in the Middle East and as a proxy in its campaign to defeat pan-Arabism.

There is no immediate comment from CCTV.