President Donald Trump’s decision to release previously classified JFK assassination files has sent pro-Israel conservative pundits into damage-control mode as renewed scrutiny falls on a potential Israeli motive in the killing of the 35th U.S. president.

On March 18, more than 63,000 pages related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy were published by the National Archives following an executive order from Trump. Though heavily redacted and still incomplete, the release has renewed public interest in the events that culminated in the president’s death in Dallas on November 22, 1963. No definitive evidence has yet emerged to confirm alternative theories about who was responsible, and that lack of closure has only added fuel to decades-old suspicions.

In the nearly 62 years since the assassination, countless theories have circulated. The most prominent continue to implicate the CIA. Recently, however, attention has shifted to potential motives involving Israeli intelligence—raising politically sensitive questions, particularly on the American right.

American Right Fractures

Among the first to respond was conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, a tireless defender of all things Israel. On his talk show, Shapiro dismissed the renewed interest in Israel’s potential role, stating:

I don’t care who killed JFK—I mean, I do because it’s interesting—but I noticed that the calendar says 2025 and he was killed in 1963.”

He went on to suggest that any speculation that Israel was involved is motivated by anti-Semitism.

Doubling down, Shapiro authored a column on March 19, 2025, titled “Does It Really Matter Who Shot John F. Kennedy?” The syndicated columnist soon saw his work picked up and republished by even the most minor local newspapers across America, sometimes with modified headlines.  While acknowledging that some 65% of Americans polled in 2023 believe Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone, Shapiro dismissed the alternative theories outright. He attributed the public’s skepticism not to unresolved evidence but to what he framed as a generalized and growing distrust of government.

Ironically, instead of quieting discussion, Shapiro’s remarks appear to have intensified interest—particularly among conservatives who have grown increasingly critical of U.S. support for Israel. That shift reflects broader trends across the political spectrum as public opinion continues to sour on the U.S.-Israel relationship.

Candace Owens, a former Daily Wire host who has reportedly eclipsed her ex-colleague Shapiro in monthly viewership since going independent, is one of the most vocal figures driving that narrative. Owens has dedicated multiple episodes of her show to the Kennedy files and Israel’s historical grievances with the president, appearing on other prominent right-leaning platforms to expand the discussion.

Rather than engage with the evidence, pro-Israel advocacy groups have sought to discredit the theory by associating it with anti-Semitism. By conflating all discussion of Israeli motives with hate speech, critics argue, these groups are sidestepping the substance of the debate and helping drive further curiosity about the very claims they aim to suppress.

JFK Files: The Israel Connection

Theories alleging Israeli involvement in Kennedy’s assassination are not new but have gained traction in recent years. In 2004, Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu—who served 18 years in prison for exposing Israel’s secret weapons program—publicly endorsed the theory. Four years later, in 2008, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi drew international attention to the theory, amplifying its reach even further.

A 2016 release from the National Security Archive revealed that Kennedy had expressed deep concerns about Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion’s efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. The U.S. president suspected that Israel’s refusal to allow inspections at the Dimona nuclear facility was a smokescreen designed to conceal a covert weapons program—an issue that has gained legitimacy since the latest document release.

In 2023, further revelations suggested Kennedy had attempted to send Nobel Prize-winning physicist Isidor Rabi to inspect the reactor at Dimona. Communications indicate that the trip was to be facilitated through U.S. State Department legal adviser Abram Chayes and his Israeli counterpart, Teddy Kollek. The initiative was ultimately blocked by the Israeli side.

Perhaps even more telling is Kennedy’s order to the U.S. Department of Justice to force the American Zionist Council (AZC)—the forerunner to AIPAC—to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The AZC was directly funded by the Israeli government, and Kennedy’s insistence on transparency alarmed Israeli officials.

Consistent with long-standing U.S. policy at the time, Kennedy also urged Israel to comply with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194, which called for the right of return for approximately 750,000 Palestinians displaced between 1947 and 1949. U.S. pressure on this front played a key role in how Israel later recharacterized the expulsion of Palestinians, shifting its narrative to claim they had left voluntarily to avoid the legal obligations entailed by UNGA 194.

Proponents of the Israeli involvement theory also note that Lyndon B. Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy following the assassination, reversed many of his predecessor’s policies and became one of Israel’s staunchest allies in U.S. history.

While this information provides a clear motive and reasonable grounds for questioning an Israeli intelligence role in the JFK assassination, there remains no conclusive evidence implicating Israel in the assassination itself. With additional files still withheld, there is potential for further revelations, but at present, the theory remains unproven.

Skeptics of the Israeli angle argue that the nation’s influence in Washington during the early 1960s was marginal compared to what it would become after the 1967 Six-Day War. Even so, there is evidence to suggest that Israel held considerable sway with President Johnson—particularly in the context of the USS Liberty incident, during which Israeli forces killed 34 American sailors in a widely contested attack.

Feature photo | Ben Shapiro speaks with press on the red carpet at the Turning Point USA Inaugural Eve Ball held in Washington DC on January 19, 2025. Jason Alpert-Wisnia | AP

Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47

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