{"id":95151,"date":"2026-09-18T05:40:58","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T10:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/?p=95151"},"modified":"2026-09-18T05:40:58","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T10:40:58","slug":"robert-kraft-pledged-2m-to-aid-palestinians-amid-macklemore-row-where-will-he-donate-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/robert-kraft-pledged-2m-to-aid-palestinians-amid-macklemore-row-where-will-he-donate-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Kraft pledged $2M to aid Palestinians amid Macklemore row. Where will he donate it?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By ANDREW LAPIN<\/p>\n

(JTA) \u2014  Robert Kraft has found himself in an unusual position: nixing the rapper Macklemore\u2019s appearance at a stadium he owns for what he said was hateful behavior \u2014 and then taking up the performer\u2019s charity challenge.<\/p>\n

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New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft listens as FIFA President Gianni Infantino and U.S. President Donald Trump speak at a FIFA Reception at Trump Tower on July 17, 2026 in New York City. (Andrew Harnik\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Macklemore challenged the Jewish pro-Israel billionaire to make a donation in support of the Palestinians days after pressuring singer Ed Sheeran to drop Macklemore from his tour over the latter\u2019s pro-Palestinian comments. Kraft responded by announcing that he would donate $2 million to \u201cfight this humanitarian crisis\u201d in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have dedicated much of my life to building bridges between all people,\u201d Kraft wrote in a statement posted by Gillette Stadium, which he owns and where Sheeran and Macklemore had been scheduled to play. \u201cI believe deeply that all lives are worth protecting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kraft\u2019s statement Wednesday came in response to challenges from both artists: a public call from Macklemore to match his own $1 million donation to a group of six pro-Palestinian organizations; and what Kraft described as private conversations with Sheeran to commit twice that amount to unspecified groups. Kraft said his own donation was meant to match Sheeran\u2019s. <\/p>\n

Kraft\u2019s gift comes as the controversy has prompted questions about how pro-Israel Jews in positions of power choose to wield their influence to combat what they see as antisemitism. His pledge carries additional, politically fraught implications, as Jewish groups have been divided on whether, or how, to donate directly to Gaza relief efforts.<\/p>\n

In his public comments, Kraft has insisted that he does not object to pro-Palestinian advocacy or aid as long as it does not cross the line into advocating for Hamas.<\/p>\n

But where will Kraft donate? The New England Patriots owner didn\u2019t specify in his public statement, and a representative didn\u2019t immediately respond to questions from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.<\/p>\n

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US rapper, singer, dancer and DJ, Benjamin Haggerty, known as Macklemore, performs at the Goldencoast Rap Festival in Corcelles-les-Monts, near Dijon, central-eastern France, on August 30, 2026. (Arnaud Finistre \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In Macklemore\u2019s own post issuing the donation challenge, he said the $1 million he was giving constituted his entire net earnings from Sheeran\u2019s tour. He named six beneficiaries: the Palestine Children\u2019s Relief Fund, HEAL Palestine, Medical Aid for Palestinians, American Near East Refugee Aid, Gaza Soup Kitchen and UNRWA USA, a nonprofit supporting the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees. <\/p>\n

UNRWA itself has proven particularly contentious among the Jewish community. After an investigation revealed that agency members had participated in Hamas\u2019 Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel,  the Trump administration led a successful effort to slash the agency\u2019s funding.<\/p>\n

In his posts, Kraft offered clues to where he has given in the past. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like the people who are speaking in support of the Palestinian people to know that for decades, I have supported efforts that create opportunity for Palestinians and have brought young Palestinians and Israelis together to build businesses, create jobs, and forge relationships,\u201d he wrote on Wednesday. In an earlier statement, Kraft said he has \u201ccreated athletic and entrepreneurial opportunities for Palestinians who I admire and respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

One well-known organization that fits Kraft\u2019s description of bringing Palestinians and Israelis together, Seeds of Peace, has a documented relationship with the businessman. In 1994, the year after the peacebuilding initiative launched, Kraft hosted more than 100 teenagers from Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco at a Patriots game. <\/p>\n

Seeds of Peace did not immediately respond to a JTA request for comment about whether Kraft would be giving to the group as part of his new pledge.<\/p>\n

Kraft has also invested heavily in a push to bring American football to Israel via the Kraft Family Israel Football League. In that context, Palestinians have played for league teams \u2014 including for the Judean Rebels, a team based in an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n

Steven Koltai, a Jewish onetime entrepreneurship liaison for former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and author of \u201cPeace Through Entrepreneurship,\u201d said he welcomed Kraft\u2019s commitment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to see, as a Jew who believes in the two-state solution and particularly in humanitarian relief to the millions of Gazans who are completely blameless, if we could show that side of who we are,\u201d Koltai told JTA. \u201cI think that he would be doing an incredible mitzvah for the whole Jewish world, especially the American Jewish community, if he could leverage his money towards something like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

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UNRWA distributes flour to Palestinian refugees in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, Nov. 22, 2023. (Ahmad Hasaballah\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Jeremy Burton, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, told JTA that Kraft \u201cdeserves kudos for leaning in with his philanthropy.\u201d Prior to the pledge, Burton had praised Kraft\u2019s actions against Macklemore, saying in a statement that Kraft \u201cdrew a clear moral line in the sand about the demonization and offensive conduct that he will not allow in \u2018his home\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne can work to end Palestinian suffering without being antisemitic,\u201d Burton wrote to JTA in a text Thursday.<\/p>\n

Kraft has said he pressured Sheeran to drop Macklemore because he thought the latter\u2019s conduct at a recent show, in which the rapper had accused Israel of genocide and broadcast footage from Columbia University\u2019s encampments, crossed the line into \u201chate speech.\u201d According to The Wall Street Journal, other NFL team owners had also voiced objections to Macklemore performing in their stadiums after witnessing one of his sets. <\/p>\n

The Journal also reported that Kraft, in his conversation with Sheeran, recalled that Macklemore had performed in a costume with antisemitic signifiers in 2014. Sheeran, whose tours have grossed nearly $2 billion since 2008, and Kraft are friendly: The singer performed at Kraft\u2019s 2022 wedding. <\/p>\n

Backlash has been swift, with Sheeran distancing himself from the decision to drop Macklemore, and the singer\u2019s other opening acts and supporting band leaving the tour in protest. Some of them named Kraft specifically in public comments. Figures including children\u2019s entertainer Ms. Rachel and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, have also defended Macklemore, with Ocasio-Cortez additionally criticizing Kraft. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you see what Robert Kraft did to line up all of the stadiums to censor speech in that one specific way, it\u2019s become clear that this is not just about one music artist or two music artists, but this is about how just a handful of stadium owners and the elite can prevent an entire massive issue, in this case, the genocide in Gaza,\u201d the congresswoman told TMZ.<\/p>\n

Others, including singer Pink and Barstool Sports mogul Dave Portnoy, have criticized Macklemore or defended Kraft\u2019s decision. <\/p>\n

Much of Kraft\u2019s philanthropy has gone to fighting antisemitism and to Jewish organizations. He recently gave $10 million to Brandeis University to endow a new center for Jewish life at the school.<\/p>\n

Koltai, who himself has not worked with Kraft, said it\u2019s possible for Jewish donors to distribute money to Gaza through \u201cvetted, kosher organizations\u201d that are \u201cclearly not Hamas.\u201d He suggested that Kraft look beyond his past donations to peacebuilding and sports efforts in order to address the current need. <\/p>\n

\u201cSewage, water, housing, medical care and child care are all much more important than a summer camp or a football team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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