US based conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson has released a documentary “The Bibi Files” on his news network, TCN (Tucker Carlson Network). The documentary is getting viral on social media. The film portrays the corruption cases of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his controversial relationship with Miriam and Sheldon Adelson and his encouragement of funding Hamas to delegitimise the claims of a Palestinian state.
What does ‘The Bibi Files’ show?
The TCN documentary is banned in Israel. Tucker Carlson is a conservative commentator and has been critical toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu long before the start of the US-Iran war. While promoting the documentary, Carlson said, “This film exposes years of stories the Netanyahu government wants to keep hidden.” The key theme of the film is Netanyahu’s attempt at prolonging the conflict in the region with the help of which he can stay safe under a political shield and avoid imprisonment.
Netanyahu’s relationship with Miriam and Sheldon Adelson
The documentary features testimonies from the US billionaire Miriam and Sheldon Adelson. This became viral because Sheldon Adelsons were one the biggest Republican donors for the US President Donald Trump’s election campaign. The documentary uses the term “Sugar Daddy” to explain how Netanyahu would expect billionaires around the world to pay for their luxury lifestyle. The film mention Sheldon as Netanyahu’s “cigar guy”, Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu would constantly demand for gifts and favorable media coverage in his newspaper, Israel Hayom. The documentary describes that there were code words such as “Leaves” for high-end cigars, “Roses” for Pink champagne and “Dwarves” for Luxury dress shirts.
Arnon Milchan, whose production credits consists of “Pretty Woman,” “12 Year a Slave,” and “Bohemian Rhapsody,” is a key witness in one of three cases brought against Prime Minister Netanyahu. In one of the recordings played in documentary, Miriam also tells how Sara would “hint” for expensive gifts, such as Tiffany necklaces, by showing off items given to her by other billionaires. Sara used to frequently call Mariam and scream loudly regarding the media coverage. Mirim used to put the phone down for 5 to 10 minutes until Sara stopped screaming.
The documentary shows that on one occasion Sheldon said, “Israel would be better off if she didn’t put her nose into his politics”. He further described her as “very unforgiving” and questioned whether he should continue the friendship.
Their relationship was further strained when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allegedly offered to weaken Adelson’s newspaper, Israel Hayom in exchange for more favorable coverage in the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
Netanyahu ‘help’ the funding of Hamas
Netanyahu’s government facilitated the transfer of millions of Qatari riyals into Gaza. The payment began in 2018. The money was distributed to the people of Gaza directly, and Shin Bet would monitor the list of recipients to try to ensure that members of Hamas’s military wing would not directly receive the benefit of the Qatari funds.
The film also portrays that Netanyahu rejected internal proposals for a pre-emptive strike against Hamas leadership in 2016. A policy intended to keep Hamas strong enough to have a legitimate political movement for the Palestinian state. They would see the Palestinian Authority as a “Burden” and Hamas as a “political asset”. The documentary explains that Netanyahu’s plan was to divide the power between the Gaza Strip which is governed by Hamas and the West Bank which is governed by Palestinian Authority. The documentary further claims that the colonial policy of divide and rule was continued by Israeli Prime Minister despite of a report regarding security threat.
Qatar was funding around $35 million per month to Hamas, in cash which in total exceeds an amount of $1 billion. Former Defence Minister of Israel, Avigdor Lieberman who quit from his chair told that the 2023 attack was blowback of the 2018 decision to send money to Hamas.
Netanyahu ‘hot tape scandal’
In the documentary an anonymous person called Sara and threatened to release a compromising sex tape of Netanyahu with other women unless he dropped out of the Likud party leadership race. The very next day Netanyahu went on live Israeli television and accepted that “There was indeed such a thing. This ended a couple of months ago. This is a private matter.”
As per the documentary The Bibi Files, this was a foundational moment in the life of Netanyahu, since he would frame political challenges as victimhood, a tactic used to balance his public image and his relationship with Sara.
Syed Ziyauddin is a media and international relations enthusiast with a strong academic and professional foundation. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Media from Jamia Millia Islamia and a Master’s in International Relations (West Asia) from the same institution.
He has work with organizations like ANN Media, TV9 Bharatvarsh, NDTV and Centre for Discourse, Fusion, and Analysis (CDFA) his core interest includes Tech, Auto and global affairs.
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