In the months since Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, scores of prominent figures have traveled to Israel to witness events there. Foreign dignitaries, diaspora rabbis and business leaders have all toured devastated kibbutzes, met with hostage families and participated in the country's extensive volunteer work.
Now the influencers have arrived.
Over the past week, numerous actors, comedians, music executives and social media personalities, both Jewish and non-Jewish, have visited Israel and presented their experiences to their millions of fans and followers on Instagram and TikTok.
Such trips are part of a broader effort to bring large audiences to Israel. Last month, James Maslow, one of the stars of the Nickelodeon band and TV show “Big Time Rush,” visited Israel on a similar, funded trip for celebrities and influencers, whose organizers recently posted on LinkedIn that they were looking for more participants for one were looking for a trip in December. The Bring Them Home Now poster with photos of the hostages (Source: BRINGTHEMHOMENOW)
Here are snapshots from the visits of some of the biggest names broadcasting from Israel right now.
Montana Tucker
Jewish singer and influencer Montana Tucker also arrived in Israel late last week and visited Kfar Aza, one of the kibbutzes most affected by the October 7 massacres. She met with representatives from Zaka, the Orthodox Israeli first responder organization that raises money, and documented much of the evidence of the Oct. 7 massacres and violence, calling them “superheroes” in an Instagram story she shared Monday.
“The work they do is unlike any other,” Tucker said. “They had to collect all the bodies/body parts after the massacres. The things they saw… no one should ever have to see in their life.”Advertising
“I will never be able to understand how people can do this to other people,” she added.
Tucker, who has more than 12 million followers on TikTok and Instagram combined, is best known for her dance videos. Earlier this year, she made a short documentary about her family's visit to the Auschwitz concentration camp in 2022. Since then, she has used her platform to promote Holocaust education awareness, even interviewing Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff about his visit in March in Auschwitz. Tucker was also present at the United Nations special session on sexual violence against Israelis and sang “Hatikva,” the Israeli national anthem, at the end of the session.
While in Israel, she took part in a flash mob with Noam Ben David, one of the Nova Music Festival survivors who now uses a wheelchair.
Jerry Seinfeld
Jewish comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his family arrived in Israel on Monday and met with the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and those recently released from captivity.
In a post shared on Instagram by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the organization representing those abducted in Gaza, the comedian was pictured wearing a dog tag reading “Take her home now,” which has become a symbol of the movement has become.
“It was clear that they were deeply affected by the experiences they heard from the family members and the released hostages,” the post said about the Seinfeld family's visit to the hostage families.
“We thank the Seinfeld family for their moving visit to the family headquarters and their unwavering support for the families of the hostages. We are confident that their support will be a significant and important step in our shared mission to achieve the immediate and safe return home of all hostages.”
Caroline D'Amore
Caroline D'Amore, a model, actress, DJ and reality TV star, landed in Israel on December 13th. She has more than 120,000 Instagram followers and announced on the social media platform last week that she traveled to Israel “instead of trying to sort through comments, news articles and BS propaganda.”
On Dec. 14, D'Amore, who is not Jewish, went to the site of the Nova Music Festival, where she said she immediately began crying and met with the family of one of the massacre victims.
“Attacking innocent partygoers is not a fight for freedom. It is cowardice, cruelty and pure evil. Anyone celebrating this is gone and needs serious help,” she wrote.
“You have lost your humanity. “Anyone who says this was a resistance to their oppressor is an extremely lost soul,” she added. “Come here. Get to know these families. Put yourself in their shoes.”
D'Amore began sharing posts about the October 7 atrocities less than two weeks after the massacre, and since then much of her content has focused on bringing attention to the hostages. Her posts have drawn a lot of criticism both in the comments and from people sharing her videos on other platforms, with accusations of “white supremacy,” “Zionist lies, propaganda and war crimes” and questions about why she doesn't address the issue humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“October 7th was not a fight for freedom,” she wrote in the post on the Nova Festival website. “It was a group of terrorists trying to kill as many innocent Jewish people as possible and then call home so their parents could be proud of them. That's the truth. This is the shocking truth about what happened on October 7th.”
Debra Messing
Actress and comedian Debra Messing, who appeared at the pro-Israel rally in Washington and at the United Nations special session on sexual violence against Israelis, traveled to Israel for the first time this week – and also took a trip to Gaza with the author and Comedian Lee Kern. (Kern is known as co-producer and writer of “Who is America,” the political mockumentary series starring Sacha Baron Cohen.) Messing and Cohen were among a group of Jewish celebrities who participated in a call with TikTok executives were in which they criticized the company for its failure to curb anti-Semitism on the video platform.
Speaking to conservative British commentator Douglas Murray while in Gaza, Messing said: “I wanted to bear witness and thank the troops and I wanted to see what happened here on October 7th and I just wish the whole world could “Be here and see it.” I will do it personally because nothing can convey the magnitude of what happened here. But I will do my best to share my experience with everyone. Because of that, I'm here.”
Michael Rapaport
Actor and comedian Michael Rapaport, who has been a vocal supporter of the Israeli cause since the war began and spoke at the March for Israel on Washington, was in Israel last week, meeting with released hostages, family members of prisoners, and touring with Montana Tucker through the devastated kibbutzim. Last week, the Jewish comedian appeared on “Eretz Nehederet,” the Israeli late-night comedy show, in a sketch that mocked the Harry Potter-style congressional hearing on anti-Semitism in universities. (The sketch followed another, poorly received sketch on the same topic two days earlier on “Saturday Night Live.”)
Although Rapaport has become known for his advocacy for the release of hostages, his support for the Israeli army and his calls for anti-Semitism, he has developed a reputation for his inflammatory language regarding Palestinians and also for publishing graphic content related to the acquired in war.
Scooter Brown
Music manager Scooter Braun, known for managing the careers of Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, Kanye West and Taylor Swift – the last of which ended in an ownership dispute over the rights to her own music – has spent the last two months He used his various social media platforms to raise awareness of the hostages and the rise in anti-Semitism that accompanied the war in Gaza.
On Monday, Braun, who is Jewish, visited Kibbutz Be'eri near the Gaza border.
“Today…was…a…day,” he shared on Instagram. “I am deeply glad that I came. This is not a political trip. This is about humanity and support for the innocent people who died on October 7th and the hostages who are still missing. What I saw and experienced today will never leave me. I had pain in the entire region. I saw it with my own eyes. I saw pain, sadness, and heartache while simultaneously experiencing love, hope, and belief. I walked away overwhelmed and strengthened at the same time.”
Emily Austin
Jewish sports reporter and social media influencer Emily Austin called her visit to Israel an “emotional rollercoaster.”
“Tears, smiles and screaming (we experienced several close calls) and everything in between,” she wrote in an Instagram post on Friday. “I am grateful to be in the country [sic] full of such special people who risk their lives every day to protect their existence. I am proud to be an Israeli forever and ever.”
Austin, along with Caroline D'Amore, visited some of the kibbutzim that were attacked on October 7 and wrote in another post: “Pictures and videos will never do justice to the evil that happened that day.”
Greg Sulkin
Marvel's “The Runaways” actor and former Disney Channel star Gregg Sulkin arrived in Israel on Tuesday morning and spoke with the families of the hostages. He also met with Moran Yanai, a jewelry designer from Beersheba who was kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival and released from captivity on November 29.
“When I returned to the Western Wall years after my bar mitzvah, I felt a deep connection to my heritage,” the Jewish actor wrote on Instagram. “As I stand here, I am reminded of the enduring spirit and resilience of the Jewish people. In the shadow of these ancient stones, I reflect on our eternal prayers for peace. Proud of my roots, humbled by our history and committed to a future where peace comes first.”
He also shared a picture of his hostage's dog tags and an Israeli flag emoji.
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