As Israel's Image Keeps Deteriorating

Israel critic, actor Mandy Patinkin

1,200 Hollywood actors and directors pledge to boycott Israeli film institutions.

That was the subject line of my daily JTA briefing this morning. I have to admit, I was jarred by that headline, Despite knowing that Hollywood is notoriously progressive in its political perspective. Still, to see that many Hollywood figures signing on to an Israeli boycott - especially one that pertains to their own industry - took me by surprise.

It’s one thing to lament the carnage one sees every day on the nightly news, or reads about in respected media outlets like the BBC and New York Times. It is understandable that what appears in the news makes it look as though Israel is doing to Palestinians today what Nazi Germany did to the Jews. 

It doesn’t help when Palestinians reporters in Gaza, respected organizations like the UN, and affiliated ‘humanitarian’ groups say - or imply -the same thing. Nor does it help when Israel’s prime minister and defense minister (who has since resigned) are indicted for war crimes by the ‘highly respected’ International Criminal Court. Add to that world leaders in major Western nations like France, the UK, Canada, and Belgium reacting to those images by recognizing the ‘State of Palestine’, And it is also not surprising that Israel has lost the narrow support it once had among Democrats. Or that overall support for Israel among the American people is now at its lowest point.

In fact It would be surprising if there weren’t world outrage at those images. All of which raises a fundamental question: does the truth even matter anymore?

It is clear to me that all of this negativity is based on fiction, reported as fact—and devoured by the public. It has even affected some Orthodox Jews, including at least one rabbi I deeply respect.

There is not the slightest doubt in my mind that the negative reporting about Israel’s conduct in this war is false. I won’t rehash all the reasons for my conviction here. But to summarize: I do not believe for a moment that the IDF’s conduct in a war with a mortal enemy is anything less than the most humane of any army in history.

Of course, saying that would make all the naysayers guffaw with laughter. They sincerely believe what they see, read, and hear from so-called ‘reliable’ sources - is the truth.

When lies become the accepted reality across so many institutions and nations, denying them—no matter how true the denial—falls on deaf ears. The truth then becomes branded as the lie.

How is it possible for what seems like the entire world to believe a lie, to the point of condemning an entire people for perpetrating it?

It’s easier than one might think. All one need do is look back to 1930s Germany to see how government officials and their propaganda machine convinced the public of the ‘big lie’ about the Jews. That they were responsible for the world’s troubles, especially Germany’s. That lie cast Jews as subhuman, deserving destruction before they could ‘destroy’ Germany. And eventually all of Europe!

The world has not gone quite that far with Israel. But it isn’t for lack of trying on the part of the Palestinian people, who have been weaned on the antisemitic writings of Hitler and Henry Ford, presented as fact in their schools and mosques. The more militant among them, like Hamas - backed by an equally hateful Iran -have acted on that ideology in ways chillingly similar to the Nazis. If October 7^th showed us anything, it showed us THAT!

And yet the Jews of Israel are now cast as the new Nazi regime. Committing genocide against others the way Nazi Germany did against the Jews.

To be fair, not everyone who disapproves of Israel’s actions believes it is Nazi-like. But they do disapprove and base it on the highly successful propaganda of terrorist organizations like Hamas, amplified by progressive apologists in government, the media, and now the entertainment industry.

A closer look at those 1,200 actors shows that many have long supported BDS, believing Israel guilty of apartheid. But anyone thinking clearly knows that is false. Apartheid, the Dutch term for segregation, in South Africa was cruel, oppressive, and often deadly. Palestinians are not treated that way. They do face extra security measures that make their lives more inconvenient than their Israeli counterparts. But without those measures, there would be far more terror attacks—like the one yesterday, when two Palestinians from the West Bank killed eight Israelis before being stopped by a Charedi IDF soldier who happened to be nearby.

That these 1,200 actors signed doesn’t mean there aren’t more who share their views but didn’t sign. On the other hand, it also gives me a glimmer of hope that there are still voices in Hollywood that are not swayed by the anti-Israel narrative. Still, it does show a trend: Anti-Israel sentiment has become far more open and mainstream as Israel’s war in Gaza has dragged on.

So the lie is now the reality. The truth may no longer matter. At least when it comes to how Israel must respond to it. The only question is: what kind of response can Israel craft that will not dilute its existential mission? That is a question for which I have no answer.