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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)
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Sen. Rick Scott Donates Salary to US Holocaust Memorial Museum

US Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, Dec. 7, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
US Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) announced on Wednesday that he will donate a portion of his Senate salary to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, underscoring what he called the urgent need to combat antisemitism at home and abroad as threats to Jewish communities escalate.
Scott, who has given part of his congressional salary since joining the Senate in 2019, said his gift was motivated by the growing dangers facing Jewish people and the importance of ensuring younger generations understand the Holocaust.
“Ann and I are proud to support the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Years ago, Ann and I brought our daughters to the Auschwitz memorial and museum in Poland because it was so important to us that they learned about the Holocaust and understood the horrors that occurred,” he said in a statement.
“It’s so important that every generation understands the atrocities of the Holocaust, and the museum does an incredible job teaching those lessons to millions of people every year. By sharing the stories of those who survived and those who were murdered, providing critical resources to educators, and reminding each of us what it means when we say ‘Never Again,’ it is a vital institution,” he added.
Scott also recounted taking his daughters years ago to Auschwitz in Poland, describing the visit as an effort to show them the catastrophic consequences of unchecked hatred against Jews.
The senator tied his donation to the approaching second anniversary of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel, the deadliest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Palestinian terrorists killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages during the onslaught.
“As we approach the second anniversary of Oct. 7, Ann and I are proud to support the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s meaningful work defending the truth of the Holocaust and their important efforts to teach its relevance for today,” Scott said.
Scott’s office did not disclose the specific amount of the donation.
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Texas State University Silent on Status of Professor Who Incited Violent Attack on Jews at Public Library

West Asheville Library in North Carolina. Photo: Screenshot/buncombecounty.org.
Texas State University is refusing to disclose whether it still currently employs a far-left professor who was filmed inciting a riotous assault on three pro-Israel individuals who peacefully spectated an anti-Israel presentation that was held in June 2024 at the West Asheville Library in North Carolina.
As previously reported by The Algemeiner, two of the victims, David Moritz and Monica Buckley, are Jewish, and one is cancer patient Bob Campbell, an 80-year-old military veteran. Their assailants kicked, punched, and dragged them out of the event, titled “Strategic Lessons From the Palestinian Resistance,” after Texas State University assistant professor of philosophy Idris Atsu Robinson spotted them in the audience and invited the 60-80 anti-Israel partisans in attendance to decide their fates.
At one point during harrowing footage taken of the incident, Robinson suggested that the encounter could lead to “murder.” At no point did he deescalate the situation and even seemed to find humor in igniting the passions of a mob.
Responding to an Algemeiner inquiry on Thursday, a Texas State media relations official declined to comment on Robinson’s employment status, saying the university “does not discuss personnel matters.”
The university has been asked before to account for its handling of Robinson.
In June, the StandWithUs Saidoff Legal Department, a pro-Israel nonprofit that seeks to combat antisemitism, notified the school of Robinson’s conduct and rhetoric. According to StandWithUs, “university sources” confirmed that he will not be teaching during the fall semester of the 2025-2026 academic year. However, the university would not comment on the matter “due to the confidential nature of personnel matters,” making it unclear whether Robinson is still employed by Texas State and will teach there in the future.
StandWithUs says Texas State should state Robinson’s employment status, share findings amassed during an internal investigation of him, and produce any previous complaints which accused him of wrongdoing.
“It is critical that universities protect Jewish and Zionist students by refusing to provide a classroom platform to faculty members unlawfully promoting antisemitic hate and violence,” Michael Scheinman, Saidoff Legal Department assistant director of campus and community affairs, told The Algemeiner on Wednesday. “Schools that do not act and fail to implement strong safeguards risk exposing their students to the same hatred and violence suffered by the victims of this attack.”
He added, “StandWithUS Saidoff Legal continues to support the victims of this horrendous hate incident by coordinating with law enforcement, helping to identify masked perpetrators, and urging Texas State University to condemn the antisemitic conduct that contributed to this violence.”
By his own words, Robinson took immense pride in what transpired in Asheville, North Carolina last year. Commenting on the matter the next day while being interviewed on a podcast produced by the organizers of the event, he argued for “popular riots” and “divine violence,” saying explicitly that “terrorists” reserve the right to “take the life of the oppressor.”
“My arms are chewed up,” Campbell, a Navy veteran, told The Algemeiner during an interview which followed the assault. He added that medical staff at a local US Veterans Affairs facility identified “severe contusions” on his body.
“What really upset me — I was [lying] on the floor, and this big guy was on top of me,” Campbell recalled. “The librarian came to the door, looked me right in the eye, turned around and walked back and didn’t do a damn thing. Didn’t call the police.”
The activists proved equally merciless to the other victims, putting Moritz in a headlock and heaving Buckley outside and ordering her not to free herself from their grip.
Expressions of anti-Zionism are escalating to violence more frequently, as previously reported by The Algemeiner.
Earlier this month, Eden Deckerhoff — a female student at Florida State University (FSU) — allegedly assaulted a Jewish male classmate at the Leach Student Recreation Center after noticing his wearing apparel issued by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
“F—k Israel, Free Palestine. Put it [the video] on Barstool FSU. I really don’t give a f—k,” the woman said before shoving the man, according to video taken by the victim. “You’re an ignorant son of a b—h.” Deckerhoff has since been charged with misdemeanor battery.
According to the Tallahassee Democrat, Deckerhoff has denied assaulting the student when questioned by investigators, telling them, “No I did not shove him at all; I never put my hands on him.” However, law enforcement charged her with misdemeanor battery and described the incident in court documents as seen in viral footage of the incident, acknowledging that Deckerhoff “appears to touch [the man’s] left shoulder.” Despite her denial, the Democrat noted, she has offered to apologize.
In June, a gunman murdered two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, while they exited an event at the Capital Jewish Museum hosted by a major Jewish organization. The suspect charged for the double murder, 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, yelled “Free Palestine” while being arrested by police after the shooting, according to video of the incident. The FBI affidavit supporting the criminal charges against Rodriguez stated that he told law enforcement he “did it for Gaza.”
Less than two weeks later, a man firebombed a crowd of people who were participating in a demonstration to raise awareness of the Israeli hostages who remain imprisoned by Hamas in Gaza. A victim of the attack, Karen Diamond, 82, later died, having sustained severe, fatal injuries.
Another antisemitic incident motivated by anti-Zionism occurred in San Francisco, where an assailant identified by law enforcement as Juan Diaz-Rivas and others allegedly beat up a Jewish victim in the middle of the night. Diaz-Rivas and his friends approached the victim while shouting “F—k the Jews, Free Palestine,” according to local prosecutors.
“[O]ne of them punched the victim, who fell to the ground, hit his head and lost consciousness,” the San Francisco district attorney’s office said in a statement. “Allegedly, Mr. Diaz-Rivas and others in the group continued to punch and kick the victim while he was down. A worker at a nearby business heard the altercation and antisemitic language and attempted to intervene. While trying to help the victim, he was kicked and punched.”
According to the latest data released by the FBI, antisemitic hate crimes in the US have been tallying to break all previous statistical records. In 2024, even as hate crimes decreased overall, those perpetrated against Jews increased by 5.8 percent in 2024 to 1,938, the largest total recorded in over 30 years of the FBI’s counting them. Jewish American groups have noted that this surge, which included 178 assaults, is being experienced by a demographic group which constitutes just 2 percent of the US population.
A striking 69 percent of all religion-based hate crimes that were reported to the FBI in 2024 targeted Jews, with 2,041 out of 2,942 total such incidents being antisemitic in nature. Muslims were targeted the next highest amount as the victims of 256 offenses, or about 9 percent of the total.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Europeans Launch UN Sanctions Process Against Iran, Drawing Tehran’s Ire

Satellite image shows buildings at Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center, before Israel launched an attack on Iran targeting nuclear facilities, in Isfahan, Iran, May 17, 2025. Photo: Planet Labs PBC via REUTERS
Britain, France, and Germany on Thursday launched a 30-day process to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran over its disputed nuclear program, a step likely to stoke tensions two months after Israel and the United States bombed Iran.
A senior Iranian official quickly accused the three European powers of harming diplomacy and vowed that Tehran would not bow to pressure over the move by the E3 to launch the so-called “snapback mechanism.”
The three powers feared they would otherwise lose the prerogative in mid-October to restore sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under a 2015 nuclear accord with world powers.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the decision did not signal the end of diplomacy. His German counterpart Johann Wadephul urged Iran to now fully cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog agency and commit to direct talks with the United States over the next month.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters the decision was “illegal and regrettable” but left the door open for engagement.
“The move is an action against diplomacy, not a chance for it. Diplomacy with Europe will continue,” the official said, adding: “Iran will not concede under pressure.”
The UN Security Council is due to meet behind closed doors on Friday at the request of the E3 to discuss the snapback move against the Islamic Republic, diplomats said.
Iran and the E3 have held several rounds of talks since Israel and the US bombed its nuclear installations in mid-June, aiming to agree to defer the snapback mechanism. But the E3 deemed that talks in Geneva on Tuesday did not yield sufficient signals of readiness for a new deal from Iran.
The E3 acted on Thursday over accusations that Iran has violated the 2015 deal that aimed to prevent it developing a nuclear weapons capability in return for a lifting of international sanctions. The E3, along with Russia, China, and the United States, were party to that accord.
US President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of that accord in 2018 during his first term, calling the deal one-sided in Iran‘s favor, and it unraveled in ensuing years as Iran abandoned limits set on its enrichment of uranium.
Trump’s second administration held fruitless indirect negotiations earlier this year with Tehran.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the E3 move and said Washington remained available for direct engagement with Iran “in furtherance of a peaceful, enduring resolution to the Iran nuclear issue.”
An Iranian source said Tehran would do so only “if Washington guarantees there will be no [military] strikes during the talks.”
The E3 said they hoped Iran would engage by the end of September to allay concerns about its nuclear agenda sufficiently for them to defer concrete action.
“The E3 are committed to using every diplomatic tool available to ensure Iran never develops a nuclear weapon,” including the snapback mechanism, they said in a letter sent to the UN Security Council and seen by Reuters.
“The E3’s commitment to a diplomatic solution nonetheless remains steadfast.”
Iran has previously warned of a “harsh response” if sanctions are reinstated, and the Iranian official said it was reviewing its options, including withdrawing from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The E3 had offered to extend the snapback for as much as six months to enable serious negotiations if Iran restored access for UN nuclear inspectors – who would also seek to account for Iran‘s large stock of enriched uranium whose status has been unknown since the June war – and engages in talks with the U.S.
Calling the E3 decision inevitable, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said it was an “important step in the diplomatic campaign to counter the Iranian regime’s nuclear ambitions.”
GROWING FRUSTRATION IN IRAN
The UN process takes 30 days before sanctions that would hit Iran‘s financial, banking, hydrocarbons, and defense sectors are restored.
Russia and China, strategic partners of Iran, finalized a draft Security Council resolution on Thursday that would extend the 2015 nuclear deal for six months and urge all parties to immediately resume negotiations.
But they have not yet asked for a vote.
“The world is at crossroads,” Russia’s deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told reporters. “One option is peace, diplomacy, goodwill … Another option is a kind of diplomacy at the barrel of the gun.”
The specter of renewed sanctions is stirring frustration in Iran, where economic anxiety is rising and political divisions are deepening, three insiders close to the government said.
Iranian leaders are split over how to respond — with anti-Western hardliners urging defiance and confrontation, while moderates advocate diplomacy.
Iran has been enriching uranium to up to 60 percent fissile purity, a short step from the roughly 90 percent of bomb-grade, and had enough material enriched to that level, if refined further, for six nuclear weapons, before the airstrikes by Israel started on June 13, according to the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog.
Actually manufacturing a weapon would take more time, however, and the IAEA has said that while it cannot guarantee Tehran‘s nuclear program is entirely peaceful, it has no credible indication of a coordinated weapons project.
The West says the advancement of Iran‘s nuclear program goes beyond civilian needs, while Tehran says it wants nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes.