Louis Theroux in Israel lobby's sights after 'The Settlers'

Despite recent capitulations to the pro-Israel lobby, the BBC has just broadcast a documentary by TV icon Louis Theroux on the “sociopathic” nature of the illegal settlement movement in occupied Palestine. And he’s already very clearly in the sights of the lobby.

Louis Theroux exposing racism, apartheid, and settler violence

Louis Theroux worked on The Settlers in response to reports that settlers were “accelerating the settlement process while being protected by the Israeli military”.

The documentary shows Rabbi Dov Lior, “one of the most prominent and influential rabbis in Israel” and “one the most dangerous people” in the country, calling Palestinian people “savages” and asserting:

There is no peace and never will be… This land belongs only to the people of Israel. All of Gaza, all of Lebanon, should be cleansed of these ‘camel riders’

The film also gives an insight into daily harassment of Palestinians by Israeli occupiers, Israel’s system of apartheid, and soldiers’ bullying and aggression (in this case of Theroux himself), with a clear instinct to get physical in order to impose their will.

One US settler claimed Palestinians’ connection with their land isn’t real, with no apparent irony. He said Zionists couldn’t allow a “Palestinian state right in the heart of Israel” (referring to the occupied West Bank) because:

to understand the Arab way of thinking, they understand there’s a war. They win the war if they get territory, they lose the war if they lose territory.

“Sociopathic”

Daniella Weiss is chair of the Nachala movement, which has long established illegal outposts in the West Bank. And she spoke to Louis Theroux about “using the magic system, Zionism” to try and colonise Gaza, saying “you establish communities, you bring Jewish families… this is how the state of Israel was established, and this is what we want to do in Gaza”. In a speech we see, she insisted:

We very much encourage and enable the population in Gaza to go to other countries. You will witness how Jews go to Gaza and Arabs disappear from Gaza

And regarding the illegality of already-existent Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, she was defiant. When Theroux explained it was a war crime, she answered:

It’s a light felony

She claimed she had been involved in almost every illegal settlement since 1967. And she underplayed settler violence by saying:

Confrontation is not overt terror

She highlighted that “I have a lot of influence” over youngsters and politicians in Israel, more than her critics.

Theroux wanted to know if she considered the suffering of Palestinians as a result of her efforts, asking:

To think of other people, other children, not at all, that seems sociopathic, doesn’t it?

She answered:

No, not at all. This is normal

Theroux summed the settler movement up as “extreme ideology, delivered with a smile”.

Full documentary – Louis Theroux’s The Settlers pic.twitter.com/n7loQsVjsK

— Najat (@theafroaussie) April 28, 2025

Louis Theroux: in the sights of the Israel lobby

Some media outlets have called The Settlers “potent“, “vital“, a “masterpiece“, and Louis Theroux’s “shocking best“. But those on the right have been quiet or combative.

The Telegraph, for example, said “Theroux’s approach is mismatched with the political reality of Israel” (whatever that means). It tried to shrug settler extremism off as a fringe phenomenon that the Israeli state dislikes (which it doesn’t), while suggesting 7 October 2023 justified settlers being heavily armed (despite that being true long before 7 October). On the other hand, however, it was right to say “it’s a shame that journalists aren’t allowed into Gaza”. It just forgot to mention that this is because Israeli war criminals have been doing their best to hide their genocide by stopping foreign journalists from entering and killing dozens of local journalists.

Theroux also documented “the extreme end of the Jewish settler movement” back in 2011. So he was undoubtedly already on the Zionist radar. But in preparation for his new documentary, one prominent pro-Israel lobbyist preemptively attacked him with a February piece in the Spectator titled “Why does Louis Theroux keep picking on Israeli settlers?” Because violent, racist colonialists don’t deserve scrutiny for committing war crimes, apparently.

The article’s author was Israeli-state apologist Jonathan Sacerdoti, a former spokesperson for highly controversial Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) who once bragged about “weaponising” antisemitism to banish Jeremy Corbyn from “public life”. You may remember that, back in 2020, Sacerdoti also joined other anti-socialist hacks in rescuing the failing Jewish Chronicle (JC), a right-wing, pro-Israel propaganda outlet with a long track record of dubious ethical behaviour. Their work smearing left-wing critics of Israeli crimes – together with a toxic coalition of other right-wing forces – very much paved the way for the Israeli genocide in Gaza and the shamefully widespread apologism for it.

Will the BBC fold again?

Overall, the BBC‘s coverage of the Gaza genocide has been awful, with clear pro-Israel bias. In February, for example, genocide-apologists bullied the public broadcaster into pulling an important documentary about Gaza. Over a thousand UK-based media professionals condemned this “politically motivated censorship”, which they described as “racist” and “dehumanising”. They accused the BBC of “erasing Palestinian suffering” and “suppressing narratives that humanise Palestinians”.

Louis Theroux’s documentary is a piece of much-needed context. And that has been sorely lacking in the coverage of both the BBC and other outlets. Whatever comes next from the pro-Israel lobby, the BBC must resist the urge to throw its professional reputation even further into the gutter.

Featured image via the Canary