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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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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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US Clamps Sanctions on Israel-bashing UN Rights Monitor Albanese

Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, attends a side event during the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
The Trump administration has imposed sweeping sanctions against Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, citing the UN official’s lengthy record of singling out Israel for condemnation.
In a post on X, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctions under a February executive order targeting those who “prompt International Criminal Court (ICC) action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives.” He accused Albanese of waging “political and economic warfare” against both nations and asserted that “such efforts will no longer be tolerated.”
“Today I am imposing sanctions on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt [International Criminal Court] action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives,” Rubio announced on X/Twitter.
“Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated,” declared the Trump administration’s top foreign affairs official. “We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense.”
Rubio concluded: “The United States will continue to take whatever actions we deem necessary to respond to lawfare and protect our sovereignty and that of our allies.”
The decision to impose sanctions on Albanese marks an escalation in the ongoing feud between the White House and the United Nations over Israel. The Trump administration has repeatedly accused the UN and Albanese of unfairly targeting Israel and mischaracterizing the Jewish state’s conduct in Gaza.
Albanese, an Italian lawyer and academic, has held the position of UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories since 2022. The position authorizes her to monitor and report on alleged “human rights violations” by Israel against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
Last week, Albanese issued a scathing report accusing companies of helping Israel maintain a so-called “genocide economy.” She called on the companies to cut off economic ties with Israel and warned that they might be guilty of “complicity” in the so-called “genocide” in Gaza.
Critics of Albanese have long accused her of exhibiting an excessive anti-Israel bias, calling into question her fairness and neutrality.
Albanese has an extensive history of using her role at the UN to denigrate Israel and seemingly rationalize Hamas’ attacks on the Jewish state.
In the months following the Palestinian terrorist group’s atrocities across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Albanese accused the Jewish state of perpetrating a “genocide” against the Palestinian people in revenge for the attacks and circulated a widely derided and heavily disputed report alleging that 186,000 people had been killed in the Gaza war as a result of Israeli actions.
The action comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Washington, where he has received a warm reception from the Trump administration. Netanyahu has been meeting with US officials to discuss next steps in the ongoing Gaza military operation.
Gideon Sa’ar, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Israel, commended the Rubio announcement with his own post on X/Twitter, exclaiming: “A clear message. Time for the UN to pay attention!”
The post US Clamps Sanctions on Israel-bashing UN Rights Monitor Albanese first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hardball: Trump Administration Reports Harvard to Accreditor Over Antisemitism Allegations

US President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
The Trump administration escalated its showdown against Harvard University on Wednesday, reporting the institution to its accreditor for alleged civil rights violations resulting from its weak response to reports of antisemitic bullying, discrimination, and harassment following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 massacre across southern Israel.
The US Department of Education (DOE) announced the action on Wednesday. Citing Harvard’s admitted failure to treat antisemitism as seriously as it treated others forms of hatred in the past, the DOE called on the New England Commission of Higher Education to review and, potentially, revoke its accreditation — a designation which qualifies Harvard for federal funding and attests to the quality of the educational services its provides.
“Accrediting bodies play a significant role in preserving academic integrity and a campus culture conducive to truth seeking and learning,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Part of that is ensuring students are safe on campus and abiding by federal laws that guarantee educational opportunities to all students. By allowing anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination to persist unchecked on its campus, Harvard University has failed in its obligation to students, educators, and American taxpayers.”
The DOE, McMahon added, “expects the New England Commission of Higher Education to enforce its policies and practices, and to keep the Department fully informed of its efforts to ensure that Harvard is in compliance with federal law and accreditor standards.”
As previously reported by The Algemeiner, Harvard’s Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism has acknowledged that the university administration’s handling of campus antisemitism fell well below its obligations under both Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its own nondiscrimination policies.
In a 300-plus-page report, the task force compiled a comprehensive record of antisemitic incidents on Harvard’s campus in recent years — from the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee’s endorsement of the Oct. 7 terrorist atrocities to an anti-Zionist faculty group’s sharing an antisemitic cartoon depicting Jews as murderers of people of color. The report identified Harvard’s past refusal to afford Jews the same protections against discrimination enjoyed by other minority groups as a key source of its problem.
Coming several weeks after President Donald Trump ordered the freeze of $2.26 billion in federal research grants and contracts for Harvard, the task force report found it was “clear” that antisemitism and anti-Israel bias have been fomented, practiced, and tolerated not only at Harvard but also within academia more widely.”
The university is now suing the federal government over the funding halt.
President Trump has spoken scathingly of Harvard, calling it, for example, an “Anti-Semitic, Far Left Institute … with students being accepted from all over the world that want to rip our Country apart” in an April post to his Truth Social platform.
In recent weeks, however, both Trump and McMahon had commended Harvard’s constructive response in negotiations over reforms the administration has asked it to implement as a precondition for restoring federal funds. The requested reforms include hiring more conservative faculty, shuttering diversity, equity, and inclusion [DEI] programs, and slashing the size of administrative offices tangential to the university’s central educational mission.
The administration has since changed its tone in the wake of a report by The Harvard Crimson that interim Harvard President Alan Garber has said “behind closed doors” that he has no intention of doing anything that would make Harvard more palatable to conservatives.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration’s Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism issued Harvard a formal “notice of violation” of civil rights law. Charging that Harvard willfully exposed Jewish students to a flood of racist and antisemitic abuse both in and outside of the classroom, it threatened to strip whatever remains of Harvard’s federal funding.
“Failure to institute adequate changes immediately will result in the loss of all federal financial resources and continue to affect Harvard’s relationship with the federal government,” wrote the federal officials comprising the multiagency Task Force. “Harvard may of course continue to operate free of federal privileges, and perhaps such an opportunity will spur a commitment to excellence that will help Harvard thrive once again.”
In Wednesday’s announcement, US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Harvard’s conduct “forfeits the legitimacy that accreditation is designed to uphold.”
“HHS and Department of Education will actively hold Harvard accountable through sustained oversight until it restores public trust and ensures a campus free of discrimination,” he said.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Hardball: Trump Administration Reports Harvard to Accreditor Over Antisemitism Allegations first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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IDF Strikes Hezbollah Sites in South Lebanon as Terror Group Pushes to Rebuild Amid US Disarmament Talks

IDF operating in southern Lebanon. Photo: IDF Spokesperson
Israeli forces uncovered and destroyed Hezbollah weapons caches in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, as a new report indicated that despite ongoing U.S.-led efforts to secure a disarmament deal, the Iran-backed group is making repeated, largely concealed attempts to rebuild its military presence in the area.
Troops carried out several operations targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon on Wednesday morning, destroying weapons depots, explosives and multibarrel launchers concealed in forested terrain, the IDF said, in violation of the November ceasefire, which requires Hezbollah to withdraw its forces 20 miles from the Israeli border.
A new report released this week by the Alma Research and Education Center found that Hezbollah is focused on rebuilding in three areas: operational deployment, weapons acquisition, and financial recovery.
“Hezbollah didn’t give up its resistance narrative and motivation,” Alma’s director, Lt. Col. (Res.) Sarit Zehavi, told The Algemeiner.
“It wants to rebuild its capabilities and infrastructures, whether it’s the villages that will be used as human shields or the military infrastructure in South Lebanon and in Lebanon in general.”
According to Zehavi, Hezbollah is attempting to return Radwan fighters to positions south of the Litani River as part of a wider plan to restore its elite forces to operational readiness. The IDF on Monday killed Radwan commander Ali Abd al-Hassan Haidar in a targeted strike. The action came hours after US Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut to discuss a long-term deal that would include an Israeli withdrawal and complete disarmament of Hezbollah.
Barrack described the Lebanese response to the proposal as positive. Later, he issued a blunt warning to Hezbollah in response to a vow by the terror group’s leader, Naim Qassem, not to lay down its arms. “If they mess with us anywhere in the world, they will have a serious problem with us,” Barrack said in an interview with Lebanese news network LBCI. “They don’t want that.”
Zehavi said it was premature to predict the outcome of the diplomatic efforts. She warned that the challenge of disarming Hezbollah remains enormous and emphasized that the Lebanese Armed Forces have not demonstrated the capability or willingness to confront the group.
“It’s too soon to be optimistic or pessimistic,” she said, noting that no firm commitments have emerged from the Beirut talks.
Hezbollah’s efforts to smuggle and manufacture weapons have been complicated by both Israeli strikes and the regional realignment over recent months. While Israeli strikes have disrupted many supply routes, according to Zehavi, Syrian authorities have intercepted far more Hezbollah-bound weapons than the Lebanese Army, which claims to have uncovered 500 arms caches but has provided no evidence.
The financial front marks the third aspect of Hezbollah’s rebuilding effort. Last week, the group halted cash payments to Shiite civilians whose homes were damaged in the war, citing liquidity problems. Zehavi attributed the shortfall to disruptions in Iran’s funding networks — an outcome of the 12-day war against the regime in Tehran — and said the constraints would likely hamper Hezbollah’s ability to compensate its base and sustain operations.
“I hope they will continue to have problems with the cash flow, that way it will be very difficult for them to recover,” she said.
The post IDF Strikes Hezbollah Sites in South Lebanon as Terror Group Pushes to Rebuild Amid US Disarmament Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.