Jon Voight calls Bardem, Cruz et al ‘obviously ignorant’ about Israel

Jon Voight has written an open letter about the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians, describing himself as angry and heartsick over a message signed by Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and other Spanish luminaries that last week accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.

Voight, who is Angelina Jolie’s father and currently appears in “Ray Donovan,” described the actors as “obviously ignorant of the whole story of Israel’s birth” in a Monday essay written for the Hollywood Reporter.

He then went on to detail the nation’s turbulent history since its creation in 1948, up to and including the killings of three Israeli youths that touched off the current violence.

Now, Voight wrote, “instead of my peers sticking up for the only democratic country in that region, they go and take out poison letters against them.”

The “Coming Home” Oscar-winner said those who signed the letter should be ashamed.

“You have been able to become famous and have all your monetary gains because you are in a democratic country: America,” Voight wrote. “Do you think you would have been able to accomplish this in Iran, Syria, Lebanon, et cetera? You had a great responsibility to use your celebrity for good. Instead, you have defamed the only democratic country of goodwill in the Middle East: Israel.”

The Spanish-language letter was published July 28 to a rather fiery public reception, and the next day Cruz issued a statement describing herself as “not an expert on the situation” but “aware of the complexity of it.” She said she meant only to take a stand for peace in the region.

Bardem issued a lengthy statement a day after his wife did, acknowledging that he’d been critical of Israel’s military actions but declaring “great respect” for the country and “deep compassion” for its losses. He denied accusations of anti-Semitism, saying he was “raised to be against any act of violence, and the consequent suffering of humanity for it, regardless of religions, ethnicities and borders.”

Comedian Jackie Mason was even more bluntly critical than Voight regarding celebrities who sympathize with the Palestinians, saying on a Sunday radio program that they “come from these kinds of anti-Semitic, low-class backgrounds where a Jew is the most disgusting thing in the world to them.”

He told Fox411: “Only in the case of Israel, are the terrorists treated as victims and Israel the aggressor,” Mason said.

Opining on the Israel-Gaza conflict has been somewhat of a minefield for most celebrities so far, whether they are supporting the Israelis or the Palestinians, or simply advocating for peace in the region.

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