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Jerry Seinfeld, Scooter Braun, Debra Messing, Montana Tucker among celebrities and influencers who have headed to Israel to ‘bear witness’ after Oct. 7 massacre

(JTA) — In the months since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, waves of prominent people have made their way to Israel to bear witness to what happened there. Foreign dignitaries, Diaspora rabbis and business leaders have all toured ravaged kibbutzes, met with hostage families and participated in the country’s sweeping volunteer effort.

Now, the influencers have arrived.

Over the last week, a slew of actors, comedians, music executives and social media personalities, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, have visited Israel, showcasing their experiences to their millions of fans and followers on Instagram and TikTok. 

Such trips are part of a broad effort to bring people with major audiences to Israel. Last month, James Maslow, one of the stars of Nickelodeon’s band and TV show “Big Time Rush,” visited Israel on a similar, funded trip for celebrities and influencers, whose organizers recently posted on LinkedIn that they were looking for more participants for a December trip.

Here are snapshots from the visits of some of the biggest names broadcasting from Israel right now.

Montana Tucker

Jewish singer and influencer Montana Tucker also arrived in Israel late last week and visited Kfar Aza, one of the kibbutzes hit hardest during the massacres on Oct. 7. She met with representatives from Zaka, the Orthodox Israeli first-responder organization that has been collecting and documenting much of the evidence of the massacres and violence from Oct. 7, and called them “superheroes” in an Instagram story she shared Monday.

“The work they do is unlike any other,” Tucker said. “They had to go collect all of the bodies/body parts after the massacres. The things they have seen… no one should ever have to see in their lives.”

“Will never be able to comprehend how human beings could do this to other human beings,” she added.

Tucker, who has more than 12 million followers on TikTok and Instagram combined, is typically known for her dance videos. Earlier this year, she created a short documentary about her family’s visit to Auschwitz concentration camp in 2022. Since then, she has used her platform to promote Holocaust education awareness, and even interviewed Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff in March about his visit to Auschwitz. Tucker was also in attendance at the United Nations Special Session on Sexual Violence Against Israelis and sang “Hatikva,” the Israeli national anthem, at the close of the session.

While in Israel, she participated in a flash mob with Noam Ben David, one of the survivors of the Nova Music Festival, who now uses a wheelchair.

Jerry Seinfeld

Jewish Comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his family arrived in Israel Monday and met with the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and those recently released from captivity. 

In a post shared on Instagram by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the organization representing those kidnapped in Gaza, the comedian was pictured wearing a “Bring them home now” dog tag that has become symbolic of the movement.

“It was evident that they were deeply affected by the experiences they heard from the family members and the released hostages,” the post said of the Seinfeld family’s visit with the hostage families.

“We thank the Seinfeld family for their moving visit to the families’ headquarters and their unwavering support for the families of the hostages. We are confident that their support will be a significant and important step in our shared mission to bring about the immediate and safe return home of all the hostages.”

Caroline D’Amore

Caroline D’Amore, a model, actress, DJ, and reality TV star landed in Israel on Dec. 13. She has more than 120,000 Instagram followers and announced on the social media platform last week that she was headed to Israel “instead of trying to sort through comments, news articles and BS propaganda.”

On Dec. 14, D’Amore, who is not Jewish, went to the site of the Nova Music Festival, where she said she immediately began crying, and met with the family of one of the victims of the massacre.

“Attacking innocent party goers is not a fight for freedom. It’s cowardice and cruel and pure evil. Anyone who celebrates this is gone and needs serious help,” she wrote.

“You’ve lost your humanity. Anyone who says this was a resistance to their oppressor is an extremely lost soul,” she added. “Come here. Meet these families. Stand in their shoes.” 

D’Amore began sharing posts about the atrocities of Oct. 7 less than two weeks after the massacre, and since then, much of her content has pivoted toward drawing attention to the hostages. Her posts have drawn much criticism both in the comments and from people sharing her videos on other platforms, with allegations of “white supremacy,” “Zionist lies, propaganda and war crimes” and questions as to why she has not addressed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“Oct 7th was not a fight for freedom,” she wrote in the post from the Nova festival site. “It was a group of terrorists trying to kill as many innocent Jewish people as possible and then call home so their parents could be proud of them. This is the truth. This is the terrifying truth of what happened on Oct 7th.”

Debra Messing

Actress and comedian Debra Messing, who has made appearances at the rally for Israel in Washington and at the United Nations Special Session on Sexual Violence Against Israelis, went to Israel for her first time this week — and also made a trip to Gaza with writer and comedian Lee Kern. (Kern is known for co-producing and writing “Who is America,” the political mockumentary series starring Sacha Baron Cohen.) Messing and Cohen were among a group of Jewish celebrities involved in a phone call with TikTok executives criticizing the company for its failure to curb antisemitism on the video platform.

Speaking to conservative British commentator Douglas Murray while in Gaza, Messing said, “I wanted to bear witness and I wanted to thank the troops and I wanted to see what happened here on October 7 and I just wish the whole world could be here and see it in person because nothing can transmit the magnitude of what happened here. But I’m going to do my best to share my experience with everybody. That’s why I’m here.”

Michael Rapaport

Actor and comedian Michael Rapaport, who has been vocal about the Israeli cause since the beginning of the war and spoke at the March for Israel in Washington, has been in Israel for the past week, meeting with released hostages, families of those in captivity, and touring the ravaged kibbutzim with Montana Tucker. Last week, the Jewish comedian appeared on “Eretz Nehederet,” the Israeli late-night comedy show, in a sketch mocking the congressional hearing on university antisemitism, in the style of Harry Potter. (The sketch succeeded another, poorly received one on the same topic on “Saturday Night Live” two days earlier.) 

Michael Rapaport and Montana Tucker embrace at Kfar Aza, one of the sites worst hit during the Oct. 7 attack. (Screenshot via Instagram)

Though Rapaport has become popular for his advocacy regarding the release of hostages, support for the Israeli army, and calling out antisemitism, he has gained a reputation for his incendiary language related to Palestinians, and also for posting graphic content related to the war. 

Scooter Braun

Music executive Scooter Braun, known for managing the careers of Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, Kanye West and Taylor Swift — the last of which ended in an ownership dispute over the rights to her own music — has spent the past two months using his various social media platforms to draw attention to the hostages and the rise in antisemitism that has accompanied the war in Gaza. 

On Monday, Braun, who is Jewish, visited Kibbutz Be’eri, near the Gaza border.

“Today… was…a… day,” he shared on Instagram. “I am deeply glad I came. This is not a political trip. This is about humanity and support for those innocent lost on October 7th and the hostages still missing. What I saw and witnessed today will never leave me. I felt pain for the entire region. I saw it with my own eyes. I saw pain and sadness and grief while all at the same moment witnessing love and hope and conviction. I walked away overwhelmed and empowered all at once.”

Emily Austin

Jewish sports reporter and social media influencer Emily Austin called her visit to Israel an “emotional roller coaster.”

“Tears, smiles, and screaming (we encountered multiple close calls) and everything in between,” she wrote in an Instagram post Friday. “I’m grateful to be in country [sic] full of such special people, who put their lives on the line every day to protect their existence. I am proud to be an Israeli, forever and always.”

Austin, along with Caroline D’Amore, visited some of the kibbutzim that were attacked on Oct. 7, and wrote in another post that “pictures and videos will never do justice to depict the evil that occurred this day.”

Gregg Sulkin

Actor in Marvel’s “The Runaways” and former Disney Channel star Gregg Sulkin arrived in Israel Tuesday morning and spoke with families of the hostages. He also met with Moran Yanai, a jewelry designer from Beersheba who was kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival and released from captivity on Nov. 29.

“Returning to the Western Wall, years after my Bar Mitzvah, I felt a profound connection to my heritage,” the Jewish actor wrote on Instagram. “Standing here, I am reminded of the enduring spirit and resilience of the Jewish people. In the shadow of these ancient stones, I reflect on our everlasting prayers for peace. Proud of my roots, humbled by our history, and committed to a future where peace reigns supreme.”

He also shared a picture of his hostages dog tag and an Israeli flag emoji.

British Jewish actor Gregg Sulkin shared a picture of a hostages dog tag and an Israeli flag emoji during his visit to Israel on Wed. Dec. 19 2023. (Screenshot via Instagram Stories)


The post Jerry Seinfeld, Scooter Braun, Debra Messing, Montana Tucker among celebrities and influencers who have headed to Israel to ‘bear witness’ after Oct. 7 massacre appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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Anti-Zionists Are Excluding LGBTQ+ Jews From Pride Spaces, New Report Says

Jews of Pride members are seen marching in the Pride parade 2025, part of LGBTQ+ community’s Midsumma Festival. Photo: Alexander Bogatyrev / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect.

Anti-Israel activists in the LGBTQ+ community are subjecting Zionist Jews to extreme levels of discrimination, including expulsions from major progressive groups and even physical assault, according to a new report by the nonprofit A Wider Bridge.

The release of the report — titled “Unsafe Spaces: Addressing Antisemitism Against LGBTQ+ Jews and Ensuring Pride Safety” — comes as LGBTQ community members across the Western world observe Pride Month, a period of festivities which celebrate the expansion of social and legal rights that have allowed gays to live more freely and authentically than ever in human history. For pro-Israel Jews, however, Pride Month 2025 is a challenging moment, as anti-Zionism has creeped into and crowded out many queer spaces which once welcomed them with open arms.

From online forums to the streets, the maltreatment and “erasure” of Jewish queer identity is severe, the report explains. Eighty-two percent of LGBTQ Jews have reported being expelled from social media channels or harassed on them, A Wider Bridge noted.

Earlier this year, NYC Dyke March, a public demonstration held by members of the lesbian community in New York City, banned self-proclaimed “Zionists” from its annual event, citing a desire to stand against the so-called “genocide” occurring in Gaza. Last year, the NYC Dyke March came under scrutiny after organizers settled on “genocide” as the theme of its 2024 event. In a statement, decrying “ethnic cleansing, violence, and dehumanization,” the organization compared the ongoing war in Gaza, to mass killings occurring in Ethiopia, Myanmar, and Sudan.

Also in 2024, the Dyke March Committee formally barred “Zionists” from participating in the Pride March, and during the event Jews were attacked and heckled after being seen wearing the Star of David on their clothing. That same year, an LGBTQ-friendly bar in the Brooklyn borough of New York City refused to hold a screening party for the Eurovision talent competition due to the participation of an Israeli contestant.

Forced, mass exiles are taking place in response to this new reality, the report added. Forty-three percent of queer Jews say they are leaving online forums; 40 percent abstain from participating in LGBTQ social events; and 30 percent said their decision was driven by precipitous deterioration of the manner in which they are treated. The only conclusion to draw, the report said, is that the Pride movement is “no longer universally safe or inclusive.”

“What we have found since Oct. 7 and what the report points to is that the explosion of antisemitism that the whole Jewish community has experienced has in some ways grown even more exponentially in the LGBTQ community,” Rabbi Denise Eger, interim executive director of A Wider Bridge and former president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, told The Algemeiner during an interview on Friday. “What we’re seeing around now as Pride marches and organizations put on their celebration s is institutional discrimination and outright boycotts.”

Eger went on to note that antisemitism in LGBTQ communities is all the more distressing due to the outsized contributions, legal and political, which Jewish gays and lesbians have made towards fostering a society that is more inclusive of non-heteronormative identities and relationships.

“Look at who were the early leaders of the LGBTQ civil rights movement — Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay elected officials in the US, was a Jewish man. Edith Windsor, who brought one of the first marriage equality cases that we won at the Supreme Court, and her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, who won it — these are LGBTQ heroes, not just LGBTQ ‘Jewish’ heroes and heroines,” Eger continued. “So, for LGBTQ Jews to be continually shut out of these spaces is paralyzing, shocking, and horrifying, and LGBTQ Jews are asking where is their home.”

She added, “These are difficult times, but together, the whole Jewish community, including the LGBTQ part of the Jewish community, can stand strong and be resilient in the face of all this, just as the Jewish people have done throughout our history. We have the tools within our tradition to keep us strong and to help us educate. And yes, I believe so much, as a rabbi, that we can and must help change the world for the better. That’s what we are called to do as the Jewish people.”

As previously reported by The Algemeiner, recorded incidents of antisemitism in the US continue to increase year over year, breaking all previous annual records.

In 2024, as reported by the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) annual audit, there were 9,354 antisemitic incidents — an average of 25.6 a day — across the US, creating an atmosphere of hate not experienced in the nearly thirty years since the ADL began tracking such data in 1979. Incidents of harassment, vandalism, and assault all increased by double digits, and for the first time ever a majority of outrages — 58 percent — were related to the existence of Israel as the world’s only Jewish state.

The Algemeiner parsed the ADL’s data, finding dramatic rises in incidents on college campuses, which saw the largest growth in 2024. The 1,694 incidents tallied by the ADL amounted to an 84 percent increase over the previous year. Additionally, antisemites were emboldened to commit more offenses in public in 2024 than they did in 2023, perpetrating 19 percent more attacks on Jewish people, pro-Israel demonstrators, and businesses perceived as being Jewish-owned or affiliated with Jews.

“Hatred toward Israel was a driving force behind antisemitism across the US, with more than half of all antisemitic incidents referencing Israel or Zionism,” said Oren Segal, ADL senior vice president for counter-extremism and intelligence. “These incidents, along with all those documented in the audit, serve as a clear reminder that silence is not an option. Good people must stand up, push back, and confront antisemitism wherever it appears. And that starts with understanding what fuels it and learning to recognize it in all its forms.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

The post Anti-Zionists Are Excluding LGBTQ+ Jews From Pride Spaces, New Report Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Two UK Men Convicted, Jailed Following November Antisemitic Harassment

Illustrative: A pro-Hamas march in London, United Kingdom, Feb. 17, 2024. Photo: Chrissa Giannakoudi via Reuters Connect

A court in the United Kingdom on Thursday sentenced Hussein Altamimi, 22, and Ali Alanzi, 30, to prison sentences of eight months and seven months respectively, for charges stemming from an incident at London’s Western Marble Arch Synagogue in November 2024, according to British media.

The two men received convictions for yelling at four Jewish worshipers such phrases as “Jews aren’t welcome here,” “you don’t belong here,” and “f—king Jew.” They also repeatedly screamed “free Palestine.”

The incident grew violent when Altamimi hit one victim’s arm to try and prevent her from filming the abuse. Alanzi also hurled liquid from an alcoholic drink toward one person. When police arrived to arrest the pair, he assaulted one of the officers.

The court convicted both men of four counts of religiously aggravated public order offenses and religiously aggravated assault. Alanzi also received a conviction for attacking the officer and will endure an additional 12 weeks’ incarceration due to a previous suspended sentence.

On Friday, the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) described its reaction to the hate crime prosecutions on X in one word: “Vindicated.”

Altamimi also faced additional charges and guilty verdicts related to a July 2023 incident which included racial abuse and striking a police officer.

“The CPS is working closely with the police to tackle hate crime, making sure that perpetrators who target victims because of their religion, race, sexuality, gender identity, or disability are brought to justice,” Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) lawyer Anna Hindmarsh said following the trial. “We know that hate crimes have a significant impact on victims and the wider community, and we will continue to support victims and witnesses who come forward to report any examples of hate crime they have experienced.”

The convictions against Altamimi and Alanzi are part of a historic surge in antisemitic acts in the United Kingdom.

The UK experienced its second-worst year for antisemitism in 2024, despite recording an 18 percent drop in antisemitic incidents from the previous year’s all-time high, according to a report released in February.

The Community Security Trust (CST), a nonprofit charity that advises Britain’s Jewish community on security matters, released data showing it recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents for 2024, a drop of 18 percent from the 4,296 in 2023. These numbers compare to 1,662 antisemitic incidents in 2022, 2,261 in 2021, and 1,684 in 2020.

In the 12 months following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, CST counted 5,583 antisemitic incidents in the UK, an increase from 204 percent from the same period the previous year.

Many of the incidents involved violence targeting the Jewish community.

Last month, On May 26, a group of six or seven men attacked three Jewish boys at the Hampstead Underground Station in North London, requiring hospitalization for one. CAA said that “this report is yet another stark reminder of the growing threat facing Jewish communities, including children.”

Another antisemitic assault occurred in Manchester in February, when an unidentified individual hit a Jewish man with what was believed to be a bottle, shattering the victim’s glasses.

The heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Stamford Hill in Hackney saw an antisemitic act last week when vandals targeted a Jewish-owned investment firm, smashing its windows and splashing red paint. The group Palestine Action claimed responsibility for the crime, as it had done previously for similar acts at the University of Cambridge’s endowment fund headquarters and the BBC’s New Broadcasting House.

“This should be treated as [an] antisemitic incident without any doubt. [The owners] are visibly Jewish people; the people who run the business and this business itself have nothing to do with Israel,” said Rabbi Herschel Gluck, president of Jewish security service Shomrim’s branch in Stamford Hill.

Days earlier, residents of Brighton in southeastern England discovered antisemitic vandalism at a memorial created to honor the victims of the Hamas-led Oct. 7 terror attacks.

“There have been over 40 attacks on the site including vandalism, theft, and graffiti. The abuse has been relentless,” Heidi Bachram, who volunteers to maintain the memorial, told The Jewish Chronicle at the time. “It’s shocking that grief for innocents is met with such violence. The hate won’t stop us, and every night, a different victim’s story will be told [at the memorial]. We will never let them be forgotten.”

In April, according to prosecutors, Abdullah Sabah Albadri, 33, attempted to climb a wall outside of the Israeli embassy in London while carrying a “martyrdom note.”

Prosecutor Kristel Pous said that Albadri told police that he wanted to “do something to send a message to the Israeli government to stop the war.”

The Israeli embassy stated in response to the foiled attack that “we thank the British security forces for their immediate response and ongoing efforts to secure the embassy.” It vowed that “the embassy of Israel will not be deterred by any terror threat and will continue to represent Israel with pride in the UK.”

The post Two UK Men Convicted, Jailed Following November Antisemitic Harassment first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Large Pro-Israel Event in Texas ‘Indefinitely Postponed’ Due to Threats of Terrorism

A protester holds a sign that reads, ”From the river to the sea Palestine will be free” during a pro-Palestinian emergency demonstration outside the Consulate General of Israel in Houston, Texas, on March 19, 2025. Photo: Reginald Mathalone via Reuters Connect

The 2025 Israel Summit in Dallas, Texas has been indefinitely postponed in response to what organizers described as intensifying threats of terrorism. 

Prior to the cancellation, the event was expecting over 1,000 attendees. The Israel Summit had already undergone a last-minute venue change due to mounting safety concerns. The gathering, scheduled for June 9–11, was set to feature prominent voices from both the Jewish and Christian pro-Israel communities.

Former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who had been scheduled to speak at the event, commented on the cancellation on social media: “This is what America looks like in 2025. A peaceful pro-Israel gathering with more than a thousand participants had to be scrapped because of threats from violent extremists.”

Ten days prior to this year’s event, local police and intelligence officials in Dallas alerted organizers that the gathering had been upgraded to a “high-threat event.” 

According to Josiah Hilton, host of the Israel Guys show, which was scheduled to co-host the event with HaYovel, the organizers had to produce “a mandatory security plan with a substantial budget estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

The organizers then moved the Israel Summit to a facility in an isolated area of Kenneth, Texas. However, the event was forced to cancel after the Palestinian Youth Movement Dallas and Jewish Voice for Peace, a pair of anti-Israel, pro-Hamas organizations, revealed its location to their followers. 

[T]he Genocide Summit had to change plans last minute in desperation due to them claiming to be ‘under attack.’ The reality is they understand DFW’s commitment to confronting the extremist ideology that is Zionism,” Palestinian Youth Movement Dallas wrote on Instagram. 

However, the organizers stated that they are going to hold the pro-Israel event “in the near future,” and vowed to “come back bigger and stronger, with more people.”

Hilton said that the cancellation reflects “the growing normalization of antisemitic threats and anti-Israel extremists, which are fueling intimidation and silencing voices of support for Israel across the United States.”

The cancellation of the Israel Summit also reflects growing concern regarding potential violence against supporters of the Jewish state. Last month, two Israeli embassy staffers, Yaron Lipschinsky and Sarah Milgrim, were murdered while exiting an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC. Then this past Sunday, an assailant firebombed a pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado, injuring 15 people and a dog.

The post Large Pro-Israel Event in Texas ‘Indefinitely Postponed’ Due to Threats of Terrorism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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