While Hollywood has its fair share of celebrities who openly denounce Israel, the current conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip has brought a proud group of celebrities to light that refuse to succumb to the town’s anti-Israel mindset.
Some freedom-loving celebrities have spoken out against those that have chosen to support Hamas in its conflict with Israel. Others have simply refused to give in to demands made by those who try and get the world to join in on their crusade against Israel.
Here are Israel’s celebrity defenders:
David Blatt
David Blatt’s new job as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers quickly became the best job in the NBA after his coaching prowess enticed LeBron James to come back to Cleveland.
Blatt comes straight from leading Maccabi Tel Aviv to the European club basketball championship, but feels bad being in Cleveland for what he calls "Israel's most justified war."
"Since Operation Protective Edge began, I feel being in Israel is the most natural thing for me to do," said Blatt. "It's not easy for me when I'm constantly thinking about what's happening in Israel."
The Rolling Stones
The legendary Rolling Stones refused to succumb to pressure to cancel their historic concert in Tel Aviv earlier this summer.
Members of the band visited Jerusalem’s holiest Jewish site, the Western Wall. They also spoke Hebrew throughout the show.
Salon published a letter by members of Pink Floyd asking the Stones to cancel their concert as part of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.
The Stones ignore this absurd request. They even delayed the start of their concert by 45 minutes to allow devout Jews celebrating the holiday of Shavuot who could not travel during the day extra time to make the historic performance.
Jon Voight
Jon Voight entered the Israel-Hamas argument when he saw the letter penned by Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz that accused Israel of genocide. Voight set the couple straight in a hurry.
"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," Voight wrote in a response column to the Spanish couple.
After explaining the history of the conflict to the "obviously ignorant" celebrity couple, he told them to "hang your heads in shame. You should all come forth with deep regrets for what you did, and ask forgiveness from the suffering people in Israel."
Bardem and Cruz did just that, changing their tune and saying they were misunderstood and "have great respect for the people of Israel."
Howard Stern
Howard Stern did not hold back when explaining how he feels about Israel-haters.
"If you're anti-Israel, you're anti-America," says Stern.
Stern said his anti-Israel caller was "sickening" and had special words for Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters.
"The guy from Pink Floyd is a big yap, he ought to shut his mouth too," said Stern.
"People forget history. Jews were being executed and killed and they went over to Israel, this little shithole which was a desert that had nothing going on … Jews get enough shit all over the world … I’m sick of the bullshit. And the Arabs don’t even want those Palestinians, otherwise they’d let them matriculate into their country."
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson has been a long time target of the anti-Israel crowd due to her endorsement of Israeli company SodaStream, but she doesn’t let it get to her.
"There’s a lot of anti-Semitism out there," is how Johansson explained the criticism to Esquire.
"I remain a supporter of economic cooperation and social interaction between a democratic Israel and Palestine," said Johansson. "SodaStream is a company that is not only committed to the environment but to building a bridge to peace between Israel and Palestine, supporting neighbors working alongside each other, receiving equal pay, equal benefits and equal rights."
Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell is supporting Israel’s fight against terrorism not with his words, but with his wallet.
Cowell gave $150,000 to Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, a foundation that supports the IDF.
Joan Rivers
Joan Rivers let the anti-Israel crowd have it, saying that Hamas "cannot throw rockets and expect people not to defend themselves" and that everybody criticizing Israel is "insane."
Rivers added she would like to see whether 22-year-old pop singer Selena Gomez "can spell ‘Palestinian.’"
"Oh, Selena Gomez. Oh yeah, that college grad," said Rivers.
"Let me just tell you, if New Jersey were firing rockets into New York, we would wipe them out. I am so bored," said Rivers. "You cannot throw rockets and expect people not to defend themselves."
Jackie Mason
Legendary comedian Jackie Mason also refused to sit silent as Israel was being bashed by people who must "come from these kinds of anti-Semitic, low-class backgrounds where a Jew is the most disgusting thing in the world to them."
"Only in the case of Israel, are the terrorists treated as victims and Israel the aggressor," Mason said. "Can you imagine how furious these celebrities would be if we were being attacked by thousands of missiles, killing innocent people hundreds of times?"