A few hours after touching down in Tel Aviv, Erin Molan stood at the edge of the Mediterranean, scanning the sky. A Houthi missile had recently landed nearby, bringing most air traffic to a standstill.

“I was looking outside at where it had landed and thinking about the absence of any condemnation for the injured innocent civilians or potential fatalities that could have occurred,” she said. “Every second, every day, I’m reminded of how hypocritical the rest of the world is.”

On her third visit to Israel in the past year, Molan was a guest of right-wing organization Nikraim LaDegel (Called to the Flag) at whose “Salute to Israel’s Independence Day” event she spoke on May 5. She also attended the Atlas Awards held by the Ayn Rand Center to receive an award for Moral Courage in recognition of her support for Israel and her commitment to truth in journalism.

Her schedule was short — just two nights in Tel Aviv — but densely packed with meetings, speeches, and encounters with families whose lives had been upended by war.

She recalled meeting a father whose child is still held hostage in Gaza, and a woman whose son was mistakenly shot by an IDF soldier.

“She held no anger,” Molan said. “That kind of forgiveness, that kind of resilience, stays with you.”

The Australian broadcaster, best known until recently for her sharp commentary on sports and politics, has spent the past seven months as one of the world’s most public pro-Israel advocates, highlighting the plight of the hostages and defending Israel’s war in Gaza.

Molan has found herself increasingly recognized in Israel, where people on the street often flock to her, eager to thank her for her support.

She says that while the trip renewed her sense of purpose, she feels conflicted over the public praise.

“I just tell the truth, and I feel guilty that people feel the need to thank me. It shouldn’t be courageous to say that murdering civilians is evil,” she told The Times of Israel.

Eighteen months ago, Molan was a popular and well-known journalist at Sky News Australia, a subscription-based channel known for its influence in conservative political circles.

Molan joined the network in 2022 as a primetime contributor and host of a weekly current affairs program, “Erin,” which featured interviews, political commentary, and Molan’s perspectives on domestic and international issues.

Molan, who is Catholic and had never been to Israel, found her life and career turned upside down following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre, in which terrorists killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in Israel and kidnapped 251 into Gaza.

Stunned by the invasion, she immediately began expressing solidarity, initially on social media and then in broadcast segments.

“It was never complex to me or grey or fuzzy. It was black and white as to who evil was in this scenario,” she said.

But for Molan, it was the responses to the attack that shocked and activated her more than the attack itself.

“October 7 wasn’t the most horrifying part — it was the world’s reaction to it,” she said.

A few days after the massacre, before Israel had even mounted a response, Molan watched as crowds gathered in Sydney in celebration of the attack. One rally lit up the Sydney Opera House in which attendees were screaming, among other things, “Gas the Jews.”

“That was probably the first time I felt genuine shame for my country,” she said. “It was horrific, sickening, gut-wrenching.”

Molan says that she was “completely naive” about the antisemitism that existed in the West, especially in her native Australia, where some 2,062 antisemitic incidents were recorded between October 2023 and September 2024, compared to 495 incidents a year earlier, according to data from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ).

“I had absolutely no idea what lay just under the surface.”

In a monologue broadcast on Sky News, Molan said, “This is a war not just against Jews but against the West,” she told viewers. “This is a moment where we choose what side we’re on, and if we get it wrong, the consequences will be catastrophic.”

In Israel, Molan became something of a sensation — hailed as a rare voice of clarity and compassion in a global media landscape many Israelis saw as indifferent, if not outright hostile.

Back home in Australia, however, the fallout was swift and more intense than Molan expected.

“When after a terrorist attack I came out very strongly in support of the victims and staunchly opposed to the terrorists who committed those atrocities, never did I think for a second that I would be considered controversial or in the minority,” she says.

As a public figure — one of the first women to anchor a major sports show in Australia — Molan had weathered criticism before, but says this was of a different order.

“I was the first woman in Australia to host one of the most popular sporting shows, so the abuse and horrific things that were written about me basically because I’m a woman were pretty intense,” she said.

“Any time a woman is uncompromising in her beliefs or takes a stance that is considered bold, a lot of the world’s reaction is to be uncomfortable with that.”

As Molan’s star rose and she became known to audiences the world over for her commentary on Israel, the criticism intensified. She received a torrent of death threats, including some targeted against her 6-year-old daughter.

Then, quietly and without much explanation, her role at Sky News Australia was cut. In December, she confirmed she was no longer with the broadcaster. Though no explicit reason was given, many are convinced her pro-Israel stance was the deciding factor.

Molan says that she cares as much about “children suffering in Gaza as children in Israel. I just understand who their real enemy is, which is Hamas.”

“Peace is the ultimate goal for Israel and for all of us who believe in freedom and democracy, but there is no peace for anyone in this region — including the people of Gaza– whilst Hamas exists.”

While some may have expected her to retreat into obscurity or moderate her tone to appeal to a broader audience, Molan has only become more vocal in her support for Israel.

She also found a new platform in the digital space, one less encumbered by editorial constraints. In February 2025, Molan launched a new weekly news program called “69 X Minutes” on Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter), drawing 10 million views on its premiere night.

She describes it as “unfiltered, unbiased and raw” — a vehicle for the kind of truth-telling Molan felt mainstream media could no longer accommodate.

Yet her presence on X places her in a complex — and, to some, contradictory — position. Under Musk’s ownership, the platform has amplified extremist voices, reinstated previously banned antisemitic content and allowed white supremacists to flourish. Musk himself has echoed antisemitic conspiracy theories and engaged with known hate accounts.

For Molan, a high-profile ally of Israel and outspoken opponent of antisemitism, this alignment raises an obvious paradox: claiming to fight antisemitism on a platform that has done more than almost any other to spread it.

Molan doesn’t see it that way. She insists that fighting hatred requires going directly to the spaces where it thrives.

“Existing in an echo chamber is a waste of time,” she says. “You need to be where those antisemitic voices are to fight back.”

She argues that platforms like X offer unparalleled reach, and that she’s committed to using the largest megaphone available to “drown those voices out.”

Certainly, her presence on X has extended her influence far beyond what legacy media once afforded her. Beyond her news channel, Molan has become a highly sought-after speaker in Israel, the United States, and elsewhere, invited to address issues ranging from security to free speech.

Her interest in national security and public service, she says, stems from her late father, Jim Molan, a highly respected Australian Army major general and senator who led the country’s forces in Iraq during the war.

There have even been quiet efforts to encourage her to run for office in Australia — something she has ruled out for now, citing her focus on caring for her daughter.

Whatever she does next, and despite the death threats, professional setbacks, and having no obvious skin in the game, Molan is adamant that her advocacy for Israel will remain a part of her life.

“It isn’t just Israel that is under attack — it’s every single thing that I hold dear; it’s my daughter’s future,” she says.

“I don’t have one iota of doubt that I’m standing on the right side of history.”