At religious liberty hearing, Catholic commissioner challenges labeling anti-Zionism as antisemitism

During a Feb. 9 hearing of the White House Religious Liberty Commission, commissioner Carrie Prejean Boller, a Catholic, cited multiple Catholic scholars, scripture passages, and Jewish leaders to argue that opposition to political Zionism and criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza should not be labeled as antisemitism. Footage of her comments and questons circulated widely online, with some calling for her removal and others supporting her remarks.

The hearing, held at the Museum of the Bible, focused on debates and riots on American college campuses and the role of government officials in protecting religious freedom. Prejean Boller, appointed to the commission by President Donald Trump in May 2025, repeatedly pressed witnesses on whether they believed mere criticism of Israel’s military actions in Gaza or expressions of disagreement with political Zionism constitute hatred of Jewish people.

“Do you believe someone can stand firmly against antisemitism,” Prejean Boller asked, “and at the same time condemn the mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza, or reject political Zionism, or not support the political state of Israel? Or do you believe that speaking out about what many Americans view as genocide in Gaza should be treated as antisemitic?” 

The former Miss California USA, who entered the Catholic Church in 2025, also questioned whether Catholics who reject Zionism — citing traditional Church teaching — would be labeled antisemites.

“In my view, the United States cannot and must not make loyalty to a particular theology about Israel a litmus test for protected speech or moral legitimacy,” she said.

Prejean Boller cited an argument from Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro, a New York-based Jewish leader who has criticized political Zionism and warned that equating Judaism with the modern Israeli state fuels accusations of divided loyalty. Such claims have resulted in “American Jews [being] increasingly treated as less fully American,” which Shapiro called “antisemitic at its core,” according to Prejean Boller.

“Zionist ideology falsely claims Israel is the nation-state of Jews everywhere and that every Jew is nationally tied to it,” Prejean Boller said, quoting Shapiro. “No other foreign country does this, no sovereign state claims to politically represent an entire worldwide group, defined by religion or heritage, and bind its members to its deeds. Yet Jews alone bear this unique, unjust burden.”

Activist Shabbos Kestenbaum, who also participated in the hearing, later rejected that characterization and described Shapiro as “an incredibly discredited rabbi.”

At one point, Prejean Boller also asked Kestenbaum whether he was willing to condemn “what Israel has done in Gaza.” Kestenbaum declined, saying he “unilaterally reject[s]” that Israel’s military campaign against Gaza is a genocide and believes that the “only genocide ever carried out was by Hamas on Oct. 7.” 

Another commission member, Rabbi Ari Berman, president of Yeshiva University in New York, argued that opposition to Zionism is inherently antisemitic. Prejean Boller replied that “Catholics do not embrace Zionism” as a theological doctrine and asked whether that would render Catholics antisemitic under his definition.

“As I said, anti-Zionism, by denying the right of the Jews to have their own state while not saying the same for any other peoples, that is a double standard, hypocrisy, and antisemitism,” Berman replied.

The exchange prompted intervention from the commission chairman, Republican Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who said the panel was not convened to adjudicate theology. 

“As a Catholic, I don't agree that the new modern state of Israel has any Biblical prophecy meaning at all,” Prejean Boller responded. “That's my stance, and I'm Catholic.”

>> Christian leaders in Jerusalem denounce ‘damaging ideologies,’ including Christian Zionism << 

At another point in the hearing, Prejean Boller clashed with Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon. 

Dillon’s publication has faced scrutiny for pitting Israeli interests against Catholic leaders in Gaza and the Holy Land. As Zeale News reported in July 2025, “Babylon Bee Managing Editor Joel Berry accused Gaza’s Christian community of aiding Hamas — just days after three Catholics were killed in a July 17 Israeli strike on Holy Family Church, the only Catholic parish in Gaza.” Berry said at the time that Catholics in Gaza “all support Hamas” and “aid … the terror regime.”

At the hearing, Prejean Boller asked Dillon whether the declaration “Christ is King” is antisemitic, in his view. He responded that he has encountered Christians who say, “Christ is King, you dirty Jew,” and argued that while “Christ is King” affirms a truth of the Catholic faith, the phrase has been co-opted by antisemitic groups.

She also pressed Dillon on whether the Biblical passage 1 Thessalonians 2:15 — which refers to “the Jews who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets” — should be censored. She similarly asked Zionist Christian pastor JC Cooper whether parts of the New Testament would be considered antisemitic. Prejean Boller argued that under the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, such language could be considered antisemitic. 

Prejean Boller also quoted Scott Hahn, a popular Catholic theologian and Scripture scholar, who has called for people to be “very careful about labeling people 'antisemites' because ... we have to recognize that to be a Catholic Christian ... does not in any way cause you to embrace Zionism as the fulfillment of prophecy.”

Exchange sparks both backlash and support

Clips of Prejean Boller circulated widely on social media following the hearing, drawing criticism from some commentators, including Laura Loomer, who called for Prejean Boller’s resignation or removal from the commission.

Prejean Boller rejected those calls in a Feb. 10 X post, writing, “Can you even imagine this? A Religious Liberty Commission prepared to fire a commissioner for her Catholic faith? If that happens, it proves their mission was never religious liberty, but a Zionist agenda. I refuse to resign.”

Later that day, she issued a longer statement responding to Kestenbaum and others, who had also called for her resignation. She said that during the hearing, she “wore an American flag pin alongside a Palestinian flag as a moral statement of solidarity with civilians who are being bombed, displaced, and deliberately starved in Gaza.” 

“I did this after watching many participants ignore, minimize, or outright deny what is plainly visible: a campaign of mass killing and starvation against a trapped population,” she continued. “Silence in the face of this is not religious liberty, it is moral complicity. My Christian Faith calls me to stand for those who are suffering in need.” 

She added that refusing to support the Israeli government, which she accused of “bombing civilians and starving families in Gaza,” does not make her antisemitic, but reflects her convictions as a pro-life Catholic.

Some voiced support for Prejean Boller online, including Munther Isaac, a Palestinian Christian theologian and Evangelical Lutheran pastor in Bethlehem. Isaac praised her for challenging what he described as efforts to equate anti-Zionism with antisemitism and for publicly acknowledging Palestinian suffering.

“Being anti-Zionist does not mean that Israel does not have the right to exist,” he argued. “Being anti-Zionist means Israel does not have the right to exist as a state built through the expulsion of Palestinians, and sustained by policies that treat Palestinians as second-class citizens — including, by the way, Palestinian Christians.”

“This is why I am grateful for Carrie’s courage. She refused to accept the imposed rules,” Isaac wrote. “She refused to allow a political ideology to redefine her faith. And she refused to allow Palestinian suffering to be erased.”

Catholic Church leaders, including Pope Leo XIV and Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, have similarly called attention to victims of Israeli policies in the West Bank and Gaza, while also tentatively supporting U.S.-led efforts to end hostilities and reduce tensions.

As Zeale News reported Feb. 10, Cardinal Pizzaballa recently expressed hope for peace, but also warned that many "concrete" actions are needed for "rebuilding trust." In Gaza and the Holy Land, the "wounds are still deep," he said.