Natalie Portman was one of several celebrities to voice support for Israel. Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for Israel Film Festival

By PJ Grisar October 9, 2023

Sarah Silverman, whose sister Susan is a rabbi in Jerusalem, was unequivocal about the war raging in Israel. 

“My sister and nieces and nephews are there,” Silverman posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, over the weekend. “They’ve been protesting BIBI for months. Fight for a two state solution. Israelis are Jews and Arabs and all colors. There is so much complexity to this. But make NO MISTAKE Hamas is a terror organization who’s [sic] mission statement is kill all Jews.”

At a concert at the newly opened Sphere arena in Las Vegas, Bono dedicated a song to the attendees of the Supernova Sukkot Festival, over 250 of whom were killed when militants crossed the border from Gaza.

“Sun is rising in the desert sky,” the U2 frontman sang, altering the lyrics to “Pride (In the Name of Love)” to reflect the events of Oct. 7. “Stars of David, they took your life — but they could not take your pride.”

Comedian Alex Edelman announced on Sunday that he was going to shul, and spoke out against the “purple prose and careful writing” posted on social media, drawing a clear line:

“The murder of innocents is never acceptable. The desecration of corpses is never acceptable. The taking of children as hostages is never acceptable. The celebration of murder — especially the murder of civilians — is never acceptable. To excuse or justify war crimes strips both victims and perpetrators of their humanity.”

Across social media this weekend, celebrities posted graphics of the Israeli flag from StandWithUs. Some, like Zoey Deutch and Emanuelle Chriqui, are Jewish; many, like Kris and Kylie Jenner (who deleted her post after backlash), are not. Nina Dobrev posted several stories in support of Israel, including a post by writer and pro-Israel activist Hen Mazzig.

Mark Ruffalo, who in 2021 drew outrage for saying Israel was committing “genocide” in its clashes with Hamas — he later apologized — posted a quote from journalist Nathan Thrall: “It is horrific to see innocent civilians killed and held hostage, and there is no justification for it. We pray for their safety, as we pray for the safety of the innocent people of Gaza who are being bombarded and besieged.”

Tomer Capone, the Israeli star of The Boys, pleaded with followers on Instagram to “remember who started the massacre.” Gal Gadot linked the page for the Jewish Agency for Israel in her Instagram bio. “The world cannot sit on the fence when these horrific acts of terror are happening,” Gadot posted.

Natalie Portman, the Israeli-born Oscar winner who refused to travel to Israel to receive her Genesis Prize in 2018, apparently over the IDF’s response to the Gaza-Israel border protests, posted Sunday to Instagram that her “heart is shattered for the people of Israel.”

Former NBA star and basketball coach Amar’e Stoudemire, an Israeli citizen since 2019, called Hamas’ actions as cowardly and called out politicians and activists slow to condemn the situation.

Eli Roth, the horror director, may have had the most strident message late Monday, posting to Instagram a picture of his character, Donny “The Bear Jew” Donowitz from Inglorious Basterds with a baseball bat to a SS soldier’s temple. Roth likened Hamas to Nazis and captioned the post “stand with humanity. Stand with Israel. Stand with the Bear Jew against all forms of oppression and speak up.”

Correction: The original version of this article incorrectly stated that Natalie Portman refused the Genesis Prize. She did not, but she declined to travel to Israel for the ceremony.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount