Jon Voight pans ‘obviously ignorant’ celebrities who criticized Israel

Hollywood actor Jon Voight pens a guest column in The Hollywood Reporter in which he bashes fellow actors Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz for attacking Israel.

“My name is Jon Voight and I am more than angry,” he writes. “I am heartsick that people like Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem could incite anti-Semitism all over the world and are oblivious to the damage they have caused.”

He says Bardem and Cruz are “obviously ignorant” of the history of the formation of the state of Israel, the attempt to destroy the fledgling state upon its inception in 1948, and its attempts to seek peace with its neighbors.

“[Israel] voluntarily returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in return for peace, and gave the Palestinians all of Gaza as a peace gesture,” Voight says. “What was the response? The Palestinians elected Hamas, a terrorist organization, and they immediately began firing thousands of rockets into Israel.”

“Instead of my peers sticking up for the only democratic country in that region, they go and take out poison letters against them,” he says, referring to Cruz and Bardem’s open letter in which they described Israel’s actions as “genocide” and called for a lifting of the siege on Gaza.

“You should hang your heads in shame,” Voight says. “You should all come forth with deep regrets for what you did, and ask forgiveness from the suffering people in Israel.”