{"id":89767,"date":"2025-09-26T12:40:04","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T17:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=89767"},"modified":"2025-09-26T12:40:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T17:40:04","slug":"an-open-letter-opposing-the-israeli-film-boycott-signed-by-liev-schrieber-mayim-bialik-and-others-is-making-the-rounds-in-hollywood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/an-open-letter-opposing-the-israeli-film-boycott-signed-by-liev-schrieber-mayim-bialik-and-others-is-making-the-rounds-in-hollywood\/","title":{"rendered":"An open letter opposing the Israeli film boycott, signed by Liev Schrieber, Mayim Bialik and others, is making the rounds in Hollywood"},"content":{"rendered":"

By ANDREW LAPIN<\/p>\n

(JTA) \u2014 Around 1,200 Hollywood names, including stars like Liev Schrieber, Mayim Bialik and Jennifer Jason Leigh, have signed onto an open letter opposing a growing celebrity boycott of the Israeli film industry.<\/p>\n

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Mayim Bialik attends the “Father Mother Sister Brother” red carpet during the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2025. (Elisabetta A. Villa\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Led by Creative Community for Peace, a pro-Israel entertainment group, the letter argues that the stated boycott against Israeli film institutions will harm Israeli work that pushes for peace and criticizes the government, and further encourage antisemitism. It comes after similar criticism of the boycott from Paramount, whose former chair Shari Redstone also signed the open letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo censor the very voices trying to find common ground and express their humanity, is wrong, ineffective, and a form of collective punishment,\u201d the open letter reads. \u201cIsrael\u2019s film industry includes groundbreaking, celebratory, and critical projects about Palestinians and Jews, which many of you have lauded and celebrated.\u201d<\/p>\n

The boycott led by Film Workers For Palestine has gathered many top Hollywood names, including Emma Stone, Javier Bardem, Adam McKay and Ava DuVernay, since launching earlier this month. Jews have also signed on, including Andrew Garfield, \u201cThe Bear\u201d star Ebon Moss-Bachrach, \u201cThe Zone of Interest\u201d director Jonathan Glazer, and \u201cHacks\u201d star Hannah Einbinder, who also used her recent Emmys acceptance speech to call out, \u201cFree Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Hannah Einbinder accepts her Emmy for “Hacks” during the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 14, 2025. (Kevin Winter\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Some of the names on the boycott have also worked on projects with Israeli filmmakers. Documentarian Alex Gibney, who signed on, produced \u201cThe Bibi Files,\u201d an Israeli-made investigative film probing the prime minister\u2019s corruption charges that has been endorsed by the Israeli-led UnXeptable movement.<\/p>\n

Most of the big names on the new, oppositional open letter are established pro-Israel advocates in Hollywood. Actor Debra Messing, for example, has spoken at pro-Israel rallies, and producer Haim Saban is a major pro-Israel donor. Noa Tishby, a former actress also on the list, has worked directly for the Israeli government, pushing pro-Israel messaging in the Diaspora. And Creative Community for Peace, the backing group, has previously called for a Palestinian short documentary about Gaza to be barred from the Emmys, citing what it said were links between the creators and terror supporters.<\/p>\n

The letter, however, does not take a staunchly pro-Israel stance. Instead, the letter says the boycott paints Israeli film with too broad a brush and notes that Israeli filmmakers often work with Palestinians and \u201care often the loudest critics of government policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pledge uses nebulous terms like \u2018implicating\u2019 and \u2018complicity,\u2019\u201d the letter continues. \u201cWho will decide which Israeli filmmakers and film institutions are \u2018complicit\u2019? A McCarthyist committee with blacklists? Or is \u2018complicity\u2019 just a pretext to boycott all Israelis and Zionists \u2014 95% of the world\u2019s Jewish population \u2014 no matter what they create or believe?\u201d<\/p>\n

A press release accompanying the letter notes that the Ophir Awards, Israel\u2019s equivalent to the Oscars, recently gave its top prize to a film about a Palestinian boy over the government\u2019s objections. The winning film, \u201cThe Sea,\u201d had been produced by the Israel Film Fund, which the release noted is one of the boycott\u2019s stated targets. Israel\u2019s culture minister subsequently pulled funding for the Ophirs.<\/p>\n

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