Within a week of the October 7 terror attack on Israel, approximately 700 notable Hollywood personalities, including Jerry Seinfeld, Michael Douglas, Debra Messing, Gal Gadot, and a handful of entertainment executives, came out strongly in support of Israel. In an open letter, devised by a nonprofit organization called “Creative Community for Peace,” they condemned in no unspeakable terms Hamas’ heinous attack on Israel, as well as calling for the release of its hostages.
On Monday, December 18, i24NEWS reported that Seinfeld, a Queens College graduate, arrived with his family in Israel in a display of his firm support and love for the Jewish state and his brethren. Since October 7, the heralded comedian and actor has posted many times on his Instagram channel of his deep adoration for Israel, as his nefesh Yehudi is something he has cherished since his high school days.
“I have loved the Jewish homeland ever since working on a kibbutz at 16,” he posted on his Instagram page on October 9. “My heart is broken from these attacks and atrocities. But we are very strong people in our hearts and minds. We believe in justice, freedom, and equality. We survive and flourish, no matter what. I will always stand with Israel and the Jewish people.” He continues to post messages of his stalwart support for Israel.
Upon landing in Israel on December 18, Seinfeld has met with families of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip. “[He] told the families that he feels a deep commitment to raising awareness around the world about the hostages,” read a statement by the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum Headquarters in Tel Aviv. The Times of Israel reported that he and his family were “deeply affected [by stories] of the experiences they heard from family members and the released hostages.” It was reported that Seinfeld spent two hours longer than originally planned and was also seen wearing a symbolic dog tag around his neck meant to draw attention to Israeli hostages in captivity.
On his Twitter/X feed, Avi Isaacharoff, a foremost expert on the Arab-Israeli conflict, a recurring columnist and creator of the hit series on the Shin Bet, Fauda, wrote on December 19 that he “had the honor of surveying the Gaza Envelope Villages with Jessica and @JerrySeinfeld to witness the devastation and burned houses at Kibbutz Be’eri and the location of the Nova Party.”
Like Seinfeld, Michael Rapaport, the New York-born Jewish actor who made his fame in a couple of Woody Allen films (Small Time Crooks and Mighty Aphrodite), as well as in James Mangold’s Cop Land, has also purposefully spent the past week in Israel.
Rapaport is an unabashed supporter of Israel and the Jewish people, often using his social media platforms, like Instagram and his I Am Michael Rapaport: Stereo Podcast to openly express his love for the Jews. Speaking at the March for Israel rally on November 14, he declared, “I’ve never felt this prideful to be Jewish in my life. It’s been a crazy time, but Jewish people around the world, we have seen it all and we have heard it all. Israel is not going anywhere.”
In his first few days in Israel last week, Rapaport taped an appearance on the comedy sketch show, Eretz Nehederet, the Jewish state’s equivalent to Saturday Night Live. In the skit, which aired on Keshet 12, Rapaport satirized anti-Semitism on college campuses, playing the role of Albus Dumbledore from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. The sketch pointedly ridiculed the heads of the prestigious universities and their misguided attempts in justifying anti-Semitism, under the guise of free speech, on its campuses.
Rapaport’s primary mission while in Israel has been to meet with hostage families, IDF personnel, ZAKA medical teams, and members of Kibbutz Be’eri in the southern region, which were hardest hit by Hamas’ terror assault on October 7. Rapaport has also spent some of his time praying at the Kosel.
On the evening of December 16 (Motza’ei Shabbos), Rapaport delivered an emotional address at a large rally at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. He expressed his love for Israel and the Jewish people, while also excoriating the International Committee of the Red Cross for not doing enough in securing the release of the remaining hostages in Hamas captivity.
“Your reputation really precedes you,” Rapaport said on a podium to hundreds of Tel Avivians at Hostages Square. “The kindness, the warmth, the generosity that I’ve experienced in my time here has been unparalleled in my travels… I know that everyone here has been affected and everyone is hurting in Israel. I also know that despite what we see on the news, despite what you see on social media, everybody in my city of New York is hurting also. The families that I’ve spoken to, who have sons who are still held captive inside Gaza after having been kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in broad daylight are devastated. The heartbreak and despair that they are enduring is unimaginable and cannot be portrayed by any actor, Jewish or not. Currently there are [still] men, women, and babies who [are] in captivity… They need to come home now!”
The Times of Israel reported that 129 hostages remain in Gaza, though not all alive, after 105 were released by Hamas in late November. One hostage was rescued by troops in late October while eight hostages have also been recovered. Three were mistakenly killed by the IDF, and the military also confirmed “the deaths of 21 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.”
Sacha Baron Cohen, the multi-dimensional writer and actor, known for his audacious Borat character, has quietly long been a champion for Jewish causes and Israel. While a student in Cambridge, Baron Cohen studied history with a focus on anti-Semitism, as his thesis also dealt with the role of Jewish activists in the American civil rights movement. In a six-part Netflix miniseries that premiered in the fall of 2019, Cohen portrayed Israeli hero and top Mossad spy Eli Cohen who infiltrated Syria’s top brass between 1961 and 1965. Eli Cohen’s courage, which he paid with his life, proved consequential for Israel’s victory in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Baron Cohen continues to be a consistent and staunch critic of the nefarious dangers of social media, like Twitter/X, Facebook, and TikTok, which have disseminated hate speech at a brisk pace in recent years, and oftentimes, says Baron Cohen, with impunity. Baron Cohen, along with actress Debra Messing and comedienne Amy Schumer, released a screed last month against TikTok executives, highlighting that posts were so blatantly anti-Semitic, some even featured young people making videos supporting Osama bin Laden.
Baron Cohen admonished TikTok executives in which he reportedly said, “What is happening at TikTok is creating the biggest anti-Semitic movement since the Nazis. Shame on you. If you think back to October 7, the reason why Hamas were able to behead young people and rape women was they were fed images from when they were small kids that led them to hate.”
The Jerusalem Post also reported Baron Cohen has lent his support to the Or Ofir Foundation, a newly launched organization in memory of Ofir Libstein, the head of the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council. Libstein was killed on October 7. “Ofir was a symbol of social and Zionist leadership, and this foundation is our commitment to continue his legacy,” stated Ofir’s brother, Doron Libstein. Baron Cohen, an alumnus of the HaBonim Dror youth movement in the UK, now joins the managing committee that features a notable array of Israeli public figures, including former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
