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Chelsea Handler Combats ‘Misinformation’ About Israel With Noa Tishby, Says She’s Pro-Palestinian but Anti-Hamas
Chelsea Handler, left, and Noa Tishby. Photo: Screenshot
Jewish comedian and actress Chelsea Handler teamed up with Israeli activist and author Noa Tishby to share a message on Friday in support of Israel and to address the “misinformation out there” that is being spread about the Jewish state.
Handler — who has a history of criticizing Israel; promoting notorious antisemite Louis Farrakhan, for which she then apologized; and endorsing for Congress an anti-Israel activist — clarified at the start of the clip that she and Tishby are “pro-Palestinian and anti-Hamas, and it is OK to question Israel’s policies and still be pro-Israel.”
Handler has stirred controversy among Israel supporters many times in the past — including when she did an Adolf Hitler parody on her former Chelsea Lately talk show that was deemed “tasteless, offensive, and hurtful to Holocaust survivors” — but she has also expressed support for Israel over the years.
Days after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack in southern Israel, Handler, whose father is Jewish, released a statement condemning Hamas and its “barbarism,” while also calling for peace for all Palestinians and Israelis. She added, “while Palestinians have seen their share of terror, Israelis and Jews throughout our world are seeing ours now, once again. I am for human rights and denouncing terror.”
Handler also joined hundreds of celebrities in signing on open letter in October that thanked US President Joe Biden for supporting Israel amid its war against Hamas terrorists, while also urging him to “not rest until all hostages are released,” referring to the 240 people who Hamas kidnapped from Israel on Oct. 7.
In her video on Friday with Tishby, who was Israel’s former special envoy for combating antisemitism and the delegitimization of Israel, the two talked about how “progressives, especially on college campuses,” are criticizing Israel and its right to defend itself in its military campaign against Hamas terrorists following the Oct. 7 massacre. These same critics “victim blame Israel for the entire situation to begin with,” Tishby noted.
“I don’t understand because progressives should love Israel,” said Handler, who has visited the Jewish state, met and interviewed former President Shimon Peres, and even headlined a comedy fundraiser in Tel Aviv in 2015.
Tishby then listed the ways in which Israel is the only democracy and progressive country in the Middle East, where its citizens have free speech, freedom of religion, and the ability to criticize the government. “Do you like gay weddings? You know the fun kind without straight people. So does Israel,” Handler added. She also jokingly said, “I love to ski topless [and] I would like to continue doing so” when Tishby noted that Israel offers women rights that other countries in the region do not.
“Israel is our greatest defense in the Middle East for all of Western democracy and Western values,” Handler said. “If Israel goes down, guess who they’re coming for next?”
“If you value being a progressive, just make sure that you stay informed,” Tishby concluded the clip by saying, right before Handler urged viewers to “stay informed” by following Tishby on social media.
The post Chelsea Handler Combats ‘Misinformation’ About Israel With Noa Tishby, Says She’s Pro-Palestinian but Anti-Hamas first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.