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‘Israel and the Jewish People Are Not Going Anywhere’: Celebrities Show Support at Historic DC Rally
Debra Messing speaking at the “March for Israel” rally in Washington, DC on Nov. 14, 2023. Photo: Screenshot
Celebrities in attendance at the historic pro-Israel rally in Washington, DC, on Tuesday urged the crowd of nearly 300,000 people to remain steadfast, resilient, and even “disruptive” in their support for the Jewish state, as it continues to fight Hamas in the Gaza Strip and seeks to rescue the hostages taken from Israel by the terrorist organization on Oct. 7.
The “March for Israel” rally in the US capital — which made history for being both the largest ever pro-Israel gathering and the largest Jewish gathering in US history — was organized by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Jewish Federations of North America. Organizers said over 290,000 people attended and 250,000 others tuned in via livestream. The event was meant to showcase the American people’s support for Israel and the return of the hostages taken by Hamas, as well as their condemnation of rising antisemitism in the US.
Jewish actress and former Will & Grace star Debra Messing was one of the celebrities in attendance who addressed the crowd. She began by saying, “I know you are in pain. I know you are afraid. I know you feel alone and abandoned by people you thought were your friends. I know you feel misunderstood and maligned. I know because I do, too.”
“Looking out at all of us today, also know that we are not alone because we have each other,” she added. Messing talked about the “tsunami of hate” and rise in antisemitism that has impacted Jews around the world since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, as well as the “deafening silence” from much of the international community in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 massacre attacks, in which Hamas terrorists killed over 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped more than 240 others as hostages.
“We see clearly now. We see naked, virulent Jew-hatred being disguised as a noble call for liberation. And we reject it,” Messing said.
“What does Israel’s defense in response to a terrorist attack have to do with an elderly Jewish man in California killed for holding an Israeli flag?” she asked, referring to the death of 69-year-old Paul Kessler at a rally near Los Angeles earlier this month.
“This is madness. This is terrorism,” Messing noted. “But we will win. We always have. We are strong, resilient, and devoted. And we will not lose ourselves. We will worry for our global Jewish family and also hurt for the innocent Palestinians used as human shields by Hamas. We will work to eviscerate Hamas and also pray for a free and flourishing Gaza.”
Messing’s speech focused largely on the 240 hostages taken by Hamas terrorists and she held a moment of silence for them.
“We will remember and work for the release of the 240 hostages as well as for the safety of the 2.2 million Gazans also held hostage by Hamas,” she said. “We will pray for the success of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] in a war Israel did not start and did not want, but a war Israel will win because we must. Those who hate us deny our humanity and right to exist. No matter. We know who we are. We know that even in — especially in – darkness, we stand united, proud, resolute … we too will prevail.”
Messing noted that children and elderly were among the hostages in Gaza. “We cannot allow the world to move on,” she said. “We must not rest until these families are made whole.”
The “March for Israel” event also featured performances by Israeli singers Omer Adam and Ishay Ribo, Jewish reggae singer and rapper Matisyahu, and the Maccabeats acapella group.
Sporting two necklaces with the Star of David, Jewish actor Michael Rapaport briefly addressed the crowd and told the young people in the audience to “‘stay strong, sane, and disruptive” before he introduced two college students who discussed the rise of antisemitism taking place on their college campuses.
Rapaport also called for the immediate return of the hostages taken by Hamas and said “there cannot be a ceasefire until the hostages are home.” He declared, “I have 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. We have heard it all. Israel is not going anywhere. Jewish people are not going anywhere.”
Broadway star Tova Feldshuh talked to the crowd about not wanting to change her Hebrew name to a more Western one in order to advance her career.
“We stand here in the tens of thousands, and usually even if you have 10 Jews you have 10,000 opinions. But today, we stand in the thousands to say Am Yisrael chai, ‘the people of Israel live,’” said the Israel Peace Medal recipient, who played former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in the play Golda’s Balcony.
She added: “We stand here firm against global antisemitism. We stand firm in confrontation with antisemitism here in these United States. We stand here to say, ‘Enough.’ We are now engaged in a battle reaching beyond any Arab-Israeli conflict. We are engaged in a battle fighting for a civilized world. We stand here knowing that the halls of our universities should be havens of enlightenment and moral clarity, and not places where Jewish students, Jewish faculty, or any minority feels outcast and afraid of being physically abused.”
Feldshuh said that although she is short, she stands “tall for the almost 200 innocent citizens, almost 200 Israeli children of Israel who are now orphaned, for the 240 innocent citizens of Israel still held in captivity by Hamas, for the kidnapped babies, and the Holocaust survivors abducted and hidden somewhere in Gaza.”
She also told college and university presidents that remaining silent as antisemitic incidents take place on their campuses is equal to complicity. She quoted Jewish physicist Albert Einstein who said, “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil but by those who watch them and do nothing.”
Others who spoke at the rally included Natan Sharansky, CNN host Van Jones, US Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), US Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), American actor and comedian Brett Clifford Gelman, and others.
Yasmine Pahlavi, who is married to Reza Pahlavi — the exiled crown prince of Iran and son of Iran’s last Shah — also attended the rally, carrying an Israeli flag and the previous national flag of Iran — which was changed after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy

Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
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