Anyone who recently scrolled through any social-media feeds may have noticed the widespread anti-Israel sentiments sparked by the war in Gaza.
It may seem that popular opinion, including among celebrities, has been swayed in a direction that does not favor Israel.
But there are still quite a few media personalities who are not only willing to show their support for the Jewish state, but even come all the way to the Holy Land to witness the current reality from up close.
Here is a list of VIPs who visited Israel since the October 7 attacks six months ago:
Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld
The comedian, famous for his 90s sitcom “Seinfeld,” has never involved himself in politics. He first addressed the October 7 attacks in an Instagram post two days later, writing: “I lived and worked on a kibbutz in Israel when I was 16 and I have loved our Jewish homeland ever since.”
His wife, cookbook author and philanthropist Jessica Seinfeld, has also been very active on social media since October 7, calling for the release of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza and promoting rehabilitation efforts.
The Seinfelds came to Israel in December 2023. Donning “Bring Them Home” dog tags, the two met with hostage families and visited Kibbutz Be’eri, ravaged by Hamas on October 7.
Michael Douglas
In the beginning of June, the legendary Hollywood actor visited the area bordering the Gaza Strip that was ravaged in the October 7 attack.
Actor Michael Douglas recently paid a solidarity visit to Israel, witnessing the horrific aftermath of October 7th.
— Israel ישראל (@Israel) June 14, 2024
This is what he experienced during his visit.
Thank you Michael for ensuring that the voices of the victims do not go unheard.
Watch:
???? @N12News pic.twitter.com/FTpDmPoFn6
There, Douglas met the relatives of Israelis who were kidnapped from their homes and taken to the Hamas-controlled enclave.
Some of the remarks he made to the press reached international headlines, primarily his assessment that it will take “generations” for Israelis to overcome the trauma from the attack.
“How does one overcome the desire for revenge? I have no idea,” he told the press.
Montana Tucker
The 31-year-old dancer and singer, who boasts over 12 million followers across her social-media platforms, first visited Israel back in December 2023, where she toured the kibbutzim that were torched by Hamas.
The Jewish social media star recently returned to the Holy Land for a special project. She shot a dance video, which has since gone viral, which features an Israeli dance troupe that lost four of its members during the Supernova festival massacre.
The video, shot at the site of the festival near Kibbutz Re’im, also features survivors of that attack, including women who’d been kidnapped and returned in a hostage deal in November.
Dr. Phil McGraw
The veteran daytime talk show host has been vocal about the atrocities committed by Hamas for the past eight months.
He criticized presidents of US universities for allowing antisemitic rhetoric to go unchecked on campus, and hosted Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Hamas cofounder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, on his show. Yousef has become a vocal critic of the terror group since his defection in 1997.
In May, the 73-year-old Dr. Phil visited Israel and conducted an exclusive interview with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.
Michael Rapaport
Rapaport has become one of the most prominent pro-Israel voices on social media since the start of the latest war. He has been calling for the release of the hostages in spite of countless virtual attacks by anti-Israel activists.
The actor-director has visited Israel several times in the past eight months, and even appeared on the popular Israeli satirical sketch show “Eretz Nehederet” (“A Wonderful Country”).
From meeting with hostage families to visiting war-ravaged parts of the country, the actor has been documenting his time in Israel for social media. He has also recently started a podcast inviting prominent Israeli and Jewish voices to help shed more light on the conflict.
Amit Siman Tov took us to the home of her brother, Johnny, his wife Tamar and their three little children (6-year-old twin daughters and 4-year-old son).
— MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport) February 23, 2024
On October 7, Hamas attacked this home, shot the parents, and burned the family to death!!!
READ THAT PART AGAIN
On October… pic.twitter.com/alADL90ThE
Tiffany Haddish
The actress and comic discovered that she was half Jewish when she met her biological father at the age of 27. Her late father, Tsihaye Reda Haddish, was of Eritrean Jewish descent. Since then, the 44-year-old actress has fully embraced the Jewish side of her heritage, having a bat mitzvah at the age of 40.
She has not been very vocal since October 7, so it took her social-media followers by surprise when she announced in February she was set to travel to Israel “to learn and see with my own eyes.”
Haddish lost over 15,000 followers in the first hours following her announcement. But the comedian remained defiant, posting her Holy Land experiences to social media, which included meetings with the Eritrean and Ethiopian communities in Israel.
Elon Musk
The CEO of Tesla and X (formerly Twitter) visited Israel in November 2023. The visit came on the heels of accusations that his social-media platform promotes antisemitism, which engulfed X following the start of the war in Gaza.
Musk rejected the accusations and said his visit was one of solidarity. He visited the communities torched by Hamas on October 7 and met with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.
Your visit to Israel @ElonMusk is very important in these difficult days. Thank you for a candid and open conversation. You stand at the forefront of global progress with the most advanced technologies on the planet, while unfortunately social media platforms – including some you… pic.twitter.com/mtUg7Q7RUx
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) November 27, 2023
Musk later said that he will keep wearing the hostage dog tag he was given during his trip until all the Israeli captives are freed.
Lee Kern
The British writer and co-producer of Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Who Is America?” has also been very vocal on his social media since the start of the war about Israel’s right to defend itself.
Kern has visited Israel on several occasions since October 7, and recently announced he will be immigrating to Israel soon.
He has been documenting his trips to war-ravaged areas, as well as showing ordinary life in Israel, including learning Hebrew and doing humorous reviews of local bomb shelters.
Daniel Ryan Spaulding
The openly gay world-traveling comedian went viral on social media at the start of the current war after posting a short video lampooning the LGBTQ community for siding with Hamas.
The Canadian comic, who isn’t Jewish, has since been documenting instances of antisemitism in the LGBTQ community around the world.
Spaulding landed in Tel Aviv in late March, where he hosted social events for the locals and met with Tel Aviv-Jaffa Mayor Ron Huldai. He also visited the Western Wall and met with the families of the hostages, documenting his experiences for his 200,000 Instagram followers.
Dave Rubin
This political commentator has also been very vocal on social media about Israel’s right to defend itself since October 7.
The 47-year-old former comic last visited Israel in 1997, when he spent a semester studying at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheva.
The creator and host of The Rubin Report arrived in Israel in May. He visited the sites of the October 7 atrocities and even provided a walking tour of Jerusalem for the viewers of his show.
Bari Weiss
The visit to Israel of the former New York Times journalist and founder of The Free Press is probably the only one characterized by something that transcends social media.
Weiss and her team interviewed not only the families of the hostages, but also survivors of the Supernova music festival massacre and local media people, including Arab Israeli journalist Lucy Aharish.
The 40-year-old media personality has since also written several articles recounting her experiences in Israel and her general feelings about the Holy Land, concluding: “A free society is only as strong as the citizens willing to defend it.”
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