Anti-Israel Conspiracy Theories Flood Social Media Following Maduro Capture
Anti-Israel influencers and foreign disinformation accounts push coordinated narratives linking Venezuelan intervention to Israel, ignoring the ongoing threat Maduro posed to Americans
In the 24 hours following the U.S. military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a wave of conspiracy theories swept across social media connecting the intervention to Israel. Far-right commentators and accounts based outside the United states generated over 216,000 posts on X alone promoting this narrative, accumulating 1.7 million interactions and reaching a potential view count of 5.7 billion views.
According to data tracked by Jewish Onliner using social media monitoring tools, at least 24.6% of all X posts containing the word “Israel” on January 3 directly connected it to Venezuela and Maduro, while 27.7% of posts mentioning “Netanyahu” linked him to the operation — either claiming Trump acted on Israel’s behalf or arguing the U.S. president should have captured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instead of Maduro.
Cross-Ideological Amplification
The conspiracy theories found traction across the political spectrum, uniting far-left anti-imperialist activists with far-right isolationists in what observers have called a “horseshoe” phenomenon — wherein ideological extremes converge on shared narratives about Israeli influence over American foreign policy.
Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, seized on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent comments about Venezuela-Iran ties to construct his theory. “Netanyahu literally told us to attack Venezuela two days ago and he’s telling us to attack Iran again,” Uygur posted. One day prior, he argued that Trump was “fighting all of Israel’s wars.” He framed the operation as Netanyahu’s doing rather than Trump’s independent decision, ostensibly arguing that Israel was behind major American foreign policy decisions.
Candace Owens issued a lengthy statement arguing that “The CIA has staged another hostile takeover of a country at the behest of a globalist psychopaths.” She continued: “That’s it. That’s what is happening, always, everywhere. Zionists cheer every regime change. There has never been a single regime change that Zionists have not applauded because it means they get to steal land, oil and other resources.”
Jeff Carlson, an account with 260K followers and claims to be a Chartered Financial Analyst, shared a video of Netanyahu with the caption “Orders given. Orders received,” directly suggesting that the Israeli Prime Minister had commanded Trump to execute the Venezuela operation.
Former MMA fighter Jake Shields, who has built a following around conspiracy-minded content, posted: “It appears that America is invading Venezuela. Is this for their oil or is this for Israel?” He then quote-tweeted a post of Netanyahu congratulating Trump on the successful mission, adding “In case you’re wondering who this war is for.”
The Hodgetwins, a pair of social media personalities with a significant following, amplified the theory by posting, “Did Netanyahu give this order?” in response to the White House announcement of the operation.
Notably, @miguelahc992, an account with only 2,500 followers, managed to amass 57,000 likes with a post stating: “How quickly they’ve captured Maduro, yet Netanyahu, who in the last two years killed hundreds of thousands of people and children and razed a state, strolls around with total impunity wherever he pleases.”
Foreign Accounts Spreading the Conspiracy Theory
The conspiracy theories received significant amplification from accounts outside the United States. Adame Media, which was previously found by the Network Contagion Research Institute to be part of a Russian and Iranian-tied disinformation campaign aimed at radicalizing the American right, published over a dozen posts on X directly trying to tie Israel to Maduro’s capture.
A South Asian-based account on X called Ounka shared a quote attributed to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, in which she stated that once Venezuela was free, the country would move its embassy to Jerusalem. Ounka added that “It’s difficult to find a U.S. war that doesn’t, in some way, benefit Israel.” The post garnered over 4 million views.
British-Palestinian doctor Rahmeh Aladwan, who was suspended from practicing medicine by a medical tribunal for publishing antisemitic posts and praising Palestinian terrorism, constructed a timeline designed to suggest causation: “5 days ago: Netanyahu visits US. 4 days ago: US issues new sanctions targeting Iran and Venezuela. 3 days ago: Netanyahu claims Iran could send arms to Venezuela: ‘They’re in cahoots’. 2 days ago: Netanyahu leaves US. Today: US bombs Venezuela and kidnaps Maduro and his wife.”
False Flags & The Great Bogeyman
The reflexive blaming of Israel for the Venezuela operation represents part of a broader pattern that Jewish Onliner has documented throughout 2025 and into 2026. Increasingly, any major negative event — regardless of connection to Middle Eastern affairs — immediately triggers waves of social media conspiracy theories attributing responsibility to Israel or claiming false flag operations.
As Jewish Onliner previously reported, when a terrorist attack occurred at Bondi Beach during Hanukkah celebrations, foreign disinformation networks and conspiracy-minded accounts immediately flooded social media with claims that Israel had orchestrated the attack as a false flag operation — despite the incident occurring thousands of miles from Israel at the hands of radical Islamist terrorists.
Similarly, following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, bot networks and foreign influence accounts worked to spread antisemitic conspiracy theories suggesting Israeli involvement, even as evidence pointed to entirely different motives and perpetrators.
The pattern reveals a consistent disinformation strategy: exploit breaking news events to inject Israel-focused conspiracy theories into the information ecosystem during the chaotic initial hours when facts remain unclear and emotions run high. This approach has proven remarkably effective at generating engagement and shaping narratives, particularly when amplified by influencers with large followings across the political spectrum.
Trump Targeted Maduro to Protect Americans and Deliver Justice
In reality, President Trump’s decision to capture Nicolás Maduro represents the culmination of longstanding U.S. policy concerns about Venezuela that are squarely about protecting Americans from narcoterrorism, transnational criminal organizations, and the collapse of democracy in the Western Hemisphere.
The United States indicted Maduro in March 2020 on charges of narco-terrorism, drug trafficking conspiracy, and firearms offenses. According to the indictment issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Maduro and members of his regime conspired with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to “flood” the United States with cocaine, explicitly viewing drug trafficking as a weapon against America. The Justice Department alleged that Maduro helped manage and ultimately led the Cártel de Los Soles (Cartel of the Suns), a drug trafficking organization composed of high-ranking Venezuelan officials who used cocaine as a tool of geopolitical warfare.
Beyond narcoterrorism, the Maduro regime has enabled Venezuelan criminal organizations like Tren de Aragua to expand operations throughout the Americas, including on U.S. soil. This transnational gang has been linked to violent crimes across American cities, human trafficking networks, and exploitation of migrant populations.
The humanitarian catastrophe created by Maduro’s mismanagement has also generated a migration crisis directly affecting the United States. Over 8 million Venezuelans have fled the country since 2015, with many attempting to reach the U.S. southern border.
The operation’s timing also coincided with mounting evidence that Maduro was preparing to escalate military cooperation with U.S. adversaries including Russia, China, and Iran, potentially allowing foreign military installations in the Western Hemisphere in violation of longstanding American security doctrines dating back to the Monroe Doctrine. Intelligence reports indicated that Venezuela was discussing hosting Chinese surveillance stations and potentially Russian military assets, representing an unacceptable security threat to the United States. Furthermore, as Jewish Onliner already documented, Venezuela is also home to an Iranian drone factory, effectively serving as Iran’s first military-industrial export node in the Western Hemisphere.
The notion that Trump required Israeli urging to act against a regime that the U.S. had already indicted, that was flooding American streets with cocaine and empowering violent gangs, that had stolen an election, and that was expanding ties with Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran ignores decades of American foreign policy doctrine and the administration’s explicitly stated justifications for the operation. The conspiracy theories circulating on social media reflect a predetermined narrative seeking evidence to fit a conclusion, rather than an honest assessment of U.S. national security interests in Latin America.