Short answer: No. As of August 2026, Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, remains one of the most vocal and consistent anti-Israel voices in American public life. He has accused Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, of "sanctioning" the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, used the antisemitic phrase "Synagogue of Satan," and repeatedly predicted Israel's disappearance from the Middle East. There is no record of him ever praising Israel, visiting it, or collaborating with it.
What Louis Farrakhan has actually said and done
Farrakhan, born May 11, 1933, has led the Nation of Islam since 1978 and is alive as of early 2026. Here is the dated record.
- April 1996: Farrakhan told reporters he believed his paternal grandfather may have been a Portuguese (Sephardic) Jew, based on family history relayed by his mother. It is the closest thing to a personal Jewish-identity connection anywhere in his record, and it never softened his public statements about Israel or Jews in the decades since, as reported by J. The Jewish News of Northern California and confirmed at the time by UPI.
- February 25, 2024: At the Nation of Islam's Saviours' Day event in Detroit, Farrakhan delivered a lengthy, multi-hour address in which he alleged Netanyahu "already knew what Hamas was gonna do because he sanctioned it," described October 7 as a pretext for a "second Nakba" and a "Greater Israel," used the phrase "Synagogue of Satan," and told Israelis they would "have to think about returning to Europe" because they were "not gonna stay in the Middle East." The ADL and JNS both documented the speech in detail.
- February 21-23, 2025: At Saviours' Day in Chicago, Farrakhan, then 91, was largely absent for health reasons and did not deliver the keynote. Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad spoke in his place and repeated the 2024 claim that Netanyahu and his commanders knew about October 7 in advance and used it as a pretext to annex land and form a "Greater Israel," per the ADL.
- February 19-22, 2026: At Saviours' Day in Detroit, Farrakhan, now 92, made his first public remarks in nearly two years, though he still did not deliver the keynote. Ishmael Muhammad again gave the main address while Farrakhan, according to Black Westchester, "sat to the side, watching." This confirms he was alive and at least briefly public as of late February 2026.
The larger context
Farrakhan's record on Israel is not new and not ambiguous. His central claim since the Israel-Hamas war began, that Netanyahu had advance knowledge of or "sanctioned" the October 7 attack, is characterized by the ADL and other outlets as an antisemitic conspiracy theory with no factual basis. His use of "Synagogue of Satan" is a phrase the ADL classifies as antisemitic in its own right, and he has repeatedly framed Israel's end as something close to inevitable on religious-prophetic grounds rather than a policy position.
Health problems, including prostate cancer dating to the early 1990s and a 2013 heart attack, have sharply curtailed his public appearances since 2024. His deputy, Ishmael Muhammad, has delivered the Nation of Islam's main annual addresses in both 2025 and 2026, and has continued the same anti-Israel and antisemitic themes even in years when Farrakhan himself was not speaking. In other words, the organization's position has outlasted its founder's ability to personally deliver it.
The bottom line
Louis Farrakhan does not support Israel. He has never expressed support for it, never visited it, and never collaborated with it in any documented instance. Instead, he has spent decades, and continues into 2026, telling audiences that Israel's Prime Minister orchestrated an attack on his own country and that Israel will not remain in the Middle East. His organization has kept that message current through at least February 2026, delivered by his successor even when he could not deliver it himself.
Wear where you stand
Not every public figure gets this one wrong. When the facts point the other way, it is worth saying so, and worth showing it. Shop Israel's Support Israel collection lets you wear that position plainly, whether the news is heavy or hopeful.
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Last updated August 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
