Michael Rapaport: Antisemitism sparked by war ‘needs to stop’
- Israel-Hamas war has sparked pro-Palestinian protests across US
- Actor Michael Rapaport has been vocal supporter of Israel
- Rapaport: Spreading antisemitism is 'unacceptable'
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(NewsNation) — Actor and comedian Michael Rapaport has a long list of TV and movie credits, but what he’s getting most attention for now are his social media posts about the war in Israel.
Rapaport, a Jew, has been a vocal supporter of Israel and is calling for an end to what he calls the spread of antisemitism that has been occurring in the Unites States since the war broke out. He recently returned from Israel, where he visited the scene of the Oct. 7 attacks.
“It’s OK to have opposing points of view, it’s OK to think Israel is a flawed country, it’s OK to say ‘free Palestine,’ but when it becomes about, you know, ‘from the river to the sea’ … when it becomes about anti-Jewishness, when it becomes about anti-Israel, anti-Zionism and all just the antisemitic stuff that’s been going on, that takes it to another level and that takes me to another level,” Rapaport said Thursday on “CUOMO.” “It wouldn’t be tolerated if it was talking about any other group.”
The war that broke out after Hamas militants launched an assault on Israel has sparked protests worldwide, inflamed tensions and raised concerns about terror threats in America.
In the Oct. 7 attack, Hamas killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 240 others hostage. Israel responded with attacks on Gaza, leveling buildings, including hospitals, killing more than 19,000, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, and causing 1.9 million Palestinian residents to flee their homes.
Critics of Israel say the country isn’t doing enough to mitigative civilian deaths, and humanitarian groups have said enough aid isn’t being allowed into Gaza fast enough. Israel says there can be no peace until Hamas is removed from power.
“Obviously, the pain in Gaza is heartbreaking, it’s devastating, but this whole situation was started on Oct. 7 by a terrorist organization that doesn’t care about me, you … doesn’t care about anybody who’s not them,” Rapaport said.
He says the antisemitism “needs to stop” and that people can support Palestine without calling for the destruction of Israel.
“If you have such a bleeding heart for the innocent, those two things just can’t be brought up in the same sentence,” Rapaport said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
