TEL AVIV — Braden Peters, an American influencer known online as Clavicular, visited Israel in July 2026 and was allowed to enter through Ben-Gurion Airport. His presence immediate backlash from Israeli citizens, public figures, and officials due to his documented history of antisemitic conduct and association with far-right figures.

Peters’ arrival coincided with public scrutiny over his January 2026 appearance at the Vendôme club in Miami Beach, where a video showed him and other influencers—including Nick Fuentes, Andrew Tate, Tristan Tate, Sneako, and Myron Gaines—singing and cheering to Ye’s song “Heil Hitler.” One participant in the video was filmed giving a Nazi salute. The club later condemned the incident as “unacceptable,” fired staff involved, and banned those present. At the time, Peters stated, “I am not sorry. I don’t apologize for what I did,” and added, “I would do it again today.”

Despite this history, Peters was granted entry to Israel on July 14, 2026. Artificial intelligence models were subsequently used to analyze whether his presence constituted a crime under Israeli law. While Israel does not maintain a sweeping criminal ban on all uses of Nazi symbols, salutes, or utterances of “Heil Hitler,” Section 3 of the Law for Prevention of Holocaust Denial makes it punishable by up to five years in prison to publish words of praise, sympathy, or identification with acts committed during Nazi rule. Section 13 of the Israeli Penal Law allows prosecution for a foreign offense that violates that law, but Section 9 stipulates that such prosecution requires the attorney general’s written consent.

During his visit, Peters was photographed speaking with Topaz Luk, an adviser to the Prime Minister of Israel. Luk later stated that the meeting was coincidental and that Peters apologized to him for the antisemitic remark attributed to him. Separately, Rabbi Yossi Farro met Peters for lunch at the Royal Beach Hotel in Tel Aviv and posted a video presenting him with a custom necklace combining the OpenAI logo and a Star of David. Farro joked that it amounted to “ChatGPT mogging David” and wrote that Peters was “loving Israel and Israel is loving him.”

However, Peters’ presence drew swift condemnation from Israeli influencers and members of the public. At the Loullie beach club in Tel Aviv, Israeli influencer Aaron Morali recognized Peters and alerted staff. Reports state that a person accompanying Peters filmed customers, confronted them, and refused to stop, leading to Peters being asked to leave. Morali later told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he realized Peters was not a supporter of Israel after observing him.

Orthodox Jewish influencer Golda Daphna posted Instagram videos criticizing Peters during his visit, playing an audio recording in which Peters said, “Does she want to have sex? Just tell the girls I’m looking to have sex in a bathroom.” Influencer Eden Sisson urged Israeli women not to appear in Peters’ videos, writing, “Don’t give him the attention he’s looking for. If he approaches you with a camera, think twice before participating,” and adding, “Someone who has chosen to use Nazi slogans and symbols in the past does not deserve your trust.”

Influencer Hallel Abramowitz-Silverman wrote in the Jerusalem Post denouncing what she described as a problematic culture within parts of Israel’s advocacy community that “mistakes influence for integrity.” She wrote, “Somewhere along the way, we started believing that if someone has enough followers, we should be grateful they’re willing to talk to us at all — even if they have spent years platforming hatred, extremism, or misogyny.”

Peters’ visit also drew international attention. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was asked about him by a TMZ reporter in Washington and responded, “We should be focusing on Palestinians and the fact that many of them have been displaced.” She added, “I hope maybe he uses his platform to give also some light to that issue as well.”

Peters’ local collaborator, Shira Braun, an influencer presented as his girlfriend in videos, faced professional consequences for her association with him. She lost her job in the army spokesman’s unit and was given a suspended jail sentence by the military. Peters himself told The Free Press that he came to Israel because it was “unexplored territory” for major influencers and that broadcasting from the country was “viral.”

Peters’ activities have been marked by controversy beyond antisemitism. He rose to prominence through “looksmaxxing” content promoting extreme cosmetic procedures, steroid use, and hypermasculine self-improvement. He has said that as a teenager, he repeatedly hit his own jaw with a hammer in a practice known as “bone smashing.” In March 2026, he was arrested in Broward County, Florida, on misdemeanor battery and criminal conspiracy charges.

In May 2026, he and another influencer pleaded no contest to unlawfully discharging a firearm after shooting at an apparently dead alligator in the Florida Everglades. He is also the defendant in a civil lawsuit alleging that he provided alcohol to a minor, injected her with substances without consent, and sexually assaulted her. Peters has denied the allegations, which have not been proven in court. His livestreams appear on the platform Kick.

Under U.S. law, there is no general offense of “hate speech,” and under the Supreme Court’s Brandenburg v. Ohio test, speech may be punished only if it is intended to incite and likely to produce imminent unlawful action. Meanwhile, Israel’s Entry into Israel Law grants the interior minister and the Population and Immigration Authority broad discretion over visas and entry denials. An ETA-IL approval allows a tourist to reach border control but does not guarantee entry. On July 14, 2026, the Instagram account Olim in TLV published a graphic stating, “Clavicular has left Israel,” and another reading, “The event has ended - it is possible to exit the Protected Space.”