Mandy Patinkin draws fire for saying Israel doing to Gaza what was once done to Jews

JTA — In an interview published Saturday, famed Jewish actor Mandy Patinkin and his wife, actress Kathryn Grody, condemned Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza and decried Jewish people who “allow this to happen.”

Their comments to The New York Times magazine, while reflective of some Jewish critics of the war both in Israel and abroad, led some to condemn the couple for placing the onus on Israel and its Jewish supporters for a war started by Hamas with the October 7, 2023, massacre.

The couple, along with their son, Gideon Grody-Patinkin, were interviewed by David Marchese for the magazine’s “The Interview” series about the success of their son’s TikTok page documenting their family’s quirks.

During the interview, Marchese, citing the couple’s frequent activism on social media, asked them about their Jewish identity:

“All of you are Jewish and also politically active, including on social media, where you talk about your hope for a ceasefire in Gaza and the tragedy of that situation. Then also, antisemitism is heightened right now. Are you feeling any differently about what it means to be Jewish at this moment?” asked Marchese.

In response, Grody, who has won Obies for her Off-Broadway acting work, said, “I hate the way some people are using antisemitism as a claim for anybody that is critical about a certain policy.”

“As far as I am concerned, compassion for every person in Gaza is very Jewish, and the fact that I abhor the policies of the leader of that country does not mean I’m a self-hating Jew or I’m antisemitic,” Grody continued, adding that Netanyahu’s politics are the “the worst thing for Jewish people.”

Chiming in, Patinkin recalled a moment in the 1980s at a rally for Soviet Jewry where he first encountered Benjamin Netanyahu, who was not yet prime minister of Israel, and without knowing his identity, found him to have a “distasteful vibe” and shifted his baby son to his other side so he wouldn’t be next to him.

Patinkin, who is perhaps best known for his role as Inigo Montoya in “The Princess Bride,” also invoked the character’s line from the movie in which he said, “I have been in the revenge business so long. Now that it’s over, I do not know what to do with the rest of my life.”

Recalling the quote, Patinkin said, “I ask Jews to consider what this man Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government is doing to the Jewish people all over the world.”

“They are endangering not only the State of Israel, which I care deeply about and want to exist, but they are endangering the Jewish population all over the world. To watch what is happening, for the Jewish people to allow this to happen to children and civilians of all ages in Gaza, for whatever reason, is unconscionable and unthinkable,” said Patinkin.

“And I ask you, Jews, everywhere, all over the world, to spend some time alone and think, Is this acceptable and sustainable? How could it be done to you and your ancestors, and you turn around and you do it to someone else?” continued Patinkin.

Patinkin’s recent statements follow a long pattern of left-wing activism by the actor when it comes to Israel. In 2020, the “Homeland” actor appeared in a video by the New Israel Fund opposing Israel’s annexation of the West Bank, and in 2021 he posted a thread on X advocating for “liberation in particular for the Palestinian people, who have endured over 50 years of a brutal and dehumanizing occupation by the State of Israel.”

In 1998, Patinkin also declined an invitation to participate in a tribute to Israel’s 50th anniversary due to his opposition to Israel’s attitudes toward peace in the Middle East.

But Patinkin’s strong condemnation of the Israeli government’s ongoing war in Gaza has not gone unnoticed by some of Israel’s strongest advocates on social media. On X, dozens of pro-Israel advocates have come out with strong criticism of the actor.

Dahlia Kurtz, a pro-Israel political influencer with over 50,000 followers, lambasted the actor, writing in a post on X that he had gone “full-blown suicidal Jew.”

“I ask you, Mandy, to spend some time alone with some meds, and ask yourself, how you’d stop Hamas from achieving its promise to end Israel,” wrote Kurtz in the post that had received around 100,000 views.

Barry Tigay, a retired psychologist and pro-Israel influencer who has written for the Jewish News Syndicate, also criticized Patinkin for spreading a “blood libel.”

“Shame on Mandy Patinkin for spreading a blood libel and Holocaust inversion against the Jews, Israel, and Prime Minister Netanyahu. Israel is fighting a just war by just means,” wrote Tigay in a post on X.

But on the New York Times’ TikTok, where the paper reposted a clip of Patinkin’s statements about Israel from the interview, the comment section largely sang the actor’s praises.

“As a Jew 100% agree. My heart and soul aches for the Palestinians. They are my brothers and sisters. I am not antisemitic. I am not a self-hating Jew. I never feel more Jewish than when I stand up for those who are being oppressed and villainized,” read one comment that garnered over 20,000 “likes.”

The ongoing war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists murdered some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel and took 251 hostages.

While Israelis have tended to rally around the government during the war, now in its 21st month, some cracks in that support have begun to appear. Yair Golan, a center-left opposition party leader and former general, made headlines earlier this year for his harsh criticisms of Israel’s wartime conduct.

A number of families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza have been demanding an immediate deal to secure their release and have criticized Netanyahu for, in their view, unnecessarily extending the war. They have called for support from American Jews and others in their efforts.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 58,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught.

Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 454. The toll includes two police officers and three Defense Ministry civilian contractors.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.