Facing the influencer intifada 

This week, over 1.7 million people watched Ethan Klein and Hasan Piker debate Israel and Palestine on YouTube. Both hugely popular internet personalities, the former friends once hosted a political podcast together, The Leftovers, on Klein’s successful YouTube channel, the H3 Podcast. In October 2023, the pair debated the Hamas massacre, and the wider Israel/Palestine conflict, during a volatile episode titled ‘Israel vs Gaza.’ The next month, the podcast went on hiatus, never to return. 

In the 18 months that have followed, the relationship between Klein and Piker has turned nuclear, with the pair constantly using their channels to insult one another’s politics. A Jewish American married to an Israeli, Klein has been highly critical of Netanyahu, the Israeli government, and the IDF on his podcast, while still maintaining Israelis’ right to safety and condemning Hamas. 

In contrast, Piker has become increasingly radical in support of Palestinians, ranting for hours on his Twitch livestream about his support for Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, who he claims are “resistance” against “Western imperialism” and fighting a “genocide” in Gaza. 

After months of feuding, the pair finally spoke face to face on Saturday, during a debate livestreamed on the H3 Podcast. Running for nearly five hours, it was chaotic, hostile, and ultimately disturbing, with Piker doubling down on his extremist, pro-terrorist rhetoric. A comment below the video, which received 12 thousand likes, described it as “the Superbowl for chronically online people.” Granted, for anyone below the age of thirty, or anyone unfamiliar with social media stars, the entire debacle might sound like irrelevant, pop culture nonsense.  

However, it’s vital that older generations, as well as Jewish and Zionist organisations, don’t underestimate how dangerous the online Israel discourse has become, and how many people it’s reaching. The ‘Superbowl’ of YouTube drama was an alarming insight into what millions of young people are watching on a daily basis. It’s time we paid attention too. 

Born to Turkish parents in New Jersey, 33-year-old Piker grew up in Istanbul and was raised as a Muslim, before returning to the United States for college. His uncle, Cenk Uygur, is a political commentator and co-founder of The Young Turks news network, which has over 6million subscribers on YouTube. Uygur constantly criticises Israel on his network and on other shows, such as Piers Morgan Uncensored. 

During his senior year of college, Piker interned for The Young Turks, and became a host and producer for the show after graduating. In 2020, he left to focus on his career as a livesteamer on Twitch, where he broadcasts anti-capitalist, pro-socialist, and pro-terrorist commentary for up to ten hours every day. Currently, Piker has 2.8 million followers on Twitch, over 1.5 million on YouTube, and another 1.3million on Instagram. 

Last month, The New York Times published a glowing profile of Piker, titled ‘A Progressive Mind in a Body for the Manosphere.’ The article gushed about Piker’s good looks, his ‘progressive’ politics, and his far-reaching influence on Gen Z. 

Three days later, The Free Press published a blistering response to the Times article, titled ‘The Handsome Face of Terrorist Apologia.’ In it, they detailed many instances of Piker supporting Islamist terrorist groups, as well as justifying violence against Israelis. 

During the thousands of hours that Piker has livestreamed, there have been too many instances of anti-Israel, pro-terrorist statements to count. Last month he compared Zionism to Nazism, stating on YouTube, “In a totally just world, regardless of your background, any kind of fucking Zionist tendency should be treated in the same way as being a fucking rabid neo-Nazi.” 

Piker referred to the October 7 massacre as “a retaliation for an ongoing apartheid.” Last May, he said “it doesn’t matter if rapes happened on October 7,” because, in his opinion, “the Palestinian resistance is not perfect.” 

Piker gave air time to Rashid Al-Haddad, who went viral for posting Tiktoks from a Houthi-hijacked ship. Al-Hadad, guilty of several violent, antisemitic posts, has become a cult figure known as the ‘Hot Houthi Pirate’ and ‘Timhouthi Chalamet.’

When livestreaming the Democratic National Convention last August, Piker muted Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin who delivered an emotional speech advocating for their son Hersh and the other hostages kidnapped by Hamas.

Piker legitimised Hezbollah as a “paramilitary organisation” stating “I don’t have an issue with them, let’s just say.” 

Born to a Jewish family in California, 39-year-old Klein is an enormously successful YouTuber and podcaster. While on his Birthright trip in 2007, Klein met his wife, Hila Klein (nee Hacmon) at Yad Vashem, while she was serving in the IDF. They married in 2012. 

Together, the couple created the h3h3Productions YouTube channel in 2011, vlogging about their life in Tel Aviv. Today, it boasts 5.61million subscribers. In 2016, they launched the H3 Podcast channel, which has 1.7million subscribers and regularly livestreams new episodes. The couple now lives in Bel Air, California, with their three sons. 

In February, three months before his debate with Piker, Klein posted a 1 hour and 41 minute video to his h3h3Productions YouTube page, titled “Content Nuke – Hasan Piker.” The video, which has 3.4million views, includes dozens of clips of Hasan’s pro-terrorist rhetoric, including some of the aforementioned incidents. 

Rather than apologise for any of his extremist views, Piker used the debate to double down. When discussing the reports of widespread sexual violence and rape perpetrated by Hamas on October 7, Piker had this to say: 

“There is, as far as I understand, one instance in captivity, it is not systemised mass rape, directed by Hamas.” 

Klein angrily replied: “Well of course that’s as far as you can conclude, because you don’t give a fuck about the truth. You just want to do propaganda, remember?” 

Later, during a conversation about Hezbollah, Piker made this claim:  

“There are plenty of terror groups that have successfully resisted against American imperialism and other forms of settler colonial violence.”  

When questioned by Klein as to whether he thinks Hezbollah are, in fact, a terrorist organisation, Piker said: 

“I think the definition of terrorism, by the American State Department, is intentionally vague to deny people their habeas corpus, deny people their due process. It is there to justify whatever kind of militant action that the American government can take.” 

In one of the debate’s most hideous moments, Klein questioned Piker about his previous claim that interviewing Rashid Al-Haddad, ‘The Hot Houthi,’ was like “talking to fucking Anne Frank.” When Klein asked whether he actually thought that, Piker shamelessly tried to defend his position: 

“Of course! Absolutely!” he shouted. “He has withstood genocide by the Saudi government.” 

Exasperated, Klein replied: “Anne Frank is famous for being a pacifist and seeing the good in people, despite a fucking Holocaust that took every member of her family but her dad, that’s why she’s inspiring. This guy went on Twitter and said, ‘fuck Jewish people.’”  

The full, almost five hours, of Ethan Klein and Hasan Piker’s debate is grim viewing, but it should be essential for any organisations serious about advocating for Jews and Israel. While some might want to dismiss Piker as merely being an ‘influencer,’ the toxicity of that influence cannot be underestimated. With over 5million collective followers across his platforms, and 648million collective views on YouTube, Piker is reaching Gen Z all over the world, with seemingly no consequences for supporting and glorifying Islamist terrorism. 

Just this week, while clips of the debate were going viral, The New York Times promoted their profile of Piker in an Instagram post. In the caption, the Times wrote this about Piker: “his personal brand of masculinity has won him many fans online – and has been a useful vehicle for his politics.” 

A better description of Piker’s “politics,” and the conflict he exploits, might be found during a fiery moment from the debate, when Klein said: 

“Your failure to acknowledge the trauma of both groups is the reason why you are a radical, fucking propagandist liar. Both traumas need to be acknowledged by both groups. There’re two things that need to be true for this ever to be resolved peacefully, Palestinian self-determination and Israelis’ right to have secure borders.” 

“As long as you ignore that, there will always be war, Palestinians will always die, and you will continue to make money from it.”