Why Pro-Israel Hollywood Stars Like Debra Messing and Ginnifer Goodwin Turn to Hen Mazzig for Advice

Amid the cacophony of debate surrounding the Israel-Hamas War, it’s grown virtually impossible to avoid the thoughts of Hen Mazzig.

As the face of the Israeli cause, one might argue that he’s an unlikely candidate: The 34-year-old influencer is gay (he was out throughout his tour of service in the IDF) and spends his time between Tel Aviv and London. It’s in the latter city, where anti-Israel sentiment has swelled to all-time highs — alongside incidents of antisemitism — that Mazzig is regularly targeted in the streets for his views.

Still, his consistency, stridency and level-headedness in advocating for his country have turned him into one of the most recognizable pro-Israel activists on the planet. Mazzig was already a thought-leader in the space before the Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas and Israel’s brutal retaliatory war in Gaza. Since then, his profile has only skyrocketed, with his content being shared over 100 million times and his face appearing regularly on cable news, particularly in the U.K.

It’s no surprise, then, that Hollywood has turned to Mazzig for advice on how to navigate the highly fraught topic of the war. Through his Tel Aviv Institute, Mazzig leads seminars advising on best practices for celebrities when speaking out in defense of Israel. Among the entertainment figures to attend Mazzig’s Jews Talk Justice Laboratories are Debra Messing, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Drew Brown of the band One Republic, Ginnifer Goodwin, Jonah Platt and Mandana Dayani, former president of Prince Harry and Meghan’s media company, Archewell.

Mazzig spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about his path to Israeli advocacy, his work advising Hollywood and his thoughts on the proliferation of Jewish WhatsApp groups in Hollywood that have gotten some members in trouble.

Hi, Hen. I’ve seen people say you work for the Israeli government. Is that true?

No, I never worked for the government. I had a social media company and I had one contract with an Israeli governmental body on very small project for $5,000.

And where is home base?

London and Tel Aviv. I spent 50 percent of my time in both places. I was born and raised in Israel, in Petah Tikva, about 30 minutes out of Tel Aviv.

When did you begin advocating for Israel?

I served for five years in the Israeli army as a humanitarian officer. I worked with Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and in Gaza for a little while, helping them with building hospitals and infrastructure. After my military service, I moved to Seattle. And I ran into this anti-Israel movement on college campuses in progressive spaces. I was shocked. I thought as a gay man I would be accepted. I checked all the boxes: My family is from Iraq and Tunisia, I’m the son of refugee indigenous people in North Africa. But I was the wrong kind of Jewish — that Jewish person that is not willing to condemn Israel all the time, or to say that Israel has no right to exist.

This all predates Oct. 7, but since then you’ve become a key figure in advocating for Israel amid its war with Hamas. How do you cope with being a lightning rod for so much anti-Israel energy?

It’s a lot when it’s online, but also in person — people attack me in the street, in London, in America. Antisemitism is politically correct here [in the U.K.] And just because you’re speaking about Israel, it’s OK. Synagogues are being torched. Jewish people are being attacked in the street. A 12-year-old Jewish girl was raped in Paris a few months ago because of Palestine — that’s what the rapist said. Horrible things are happening to Jews around the world.

Do you have security now?

I’m honestly not going out that much. And when I do, I wear a cap and try to avoid confrontation, which happens maybe once a week. I’m willing to pay the price because I feel like my cause is righteous.

It’s been interesting to see how Hollywood has interfaced with this issue. Most recently there were 400 SAG members who signed a letter urging the guild to protect pro-Palestinian members from career retribution — what they describe as a “McCarthyist repression of members.” It’s a very strategic wording that infers there exists a cabal of Jews in Hollywood plotting revenge.

The letter spoke very movingly about the Palestinians civilians lost to this war but said nothing of any Jewish losses. Not the 1,200 murdered on Oct. 7 — not even the six hostages shot point blank, including American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, earlier this month. These celebrities are not standing up for people that are being oppressed. They’re joining a massive mob. And if you need any evidence on how sinister it is, you see people like Lizzo, canceled for alleged sexual harassment and horrific behavior to her team, making a comeback on the back of Palestine, saying that she stands with Palestine. That’s how she is exonerated from being canceled. Jews are always careful and very vigilant when we see a populist cause gaining traction — because we are often the ones that are being scapegoated.

What is the Tel Aviv Institute?

We started about six years ago, myself and Dr. Ron Katz, an expert on rhetoric and propaganda from UC Berkeley. It’s a 501(c) [nonprofit]. It’s an American organization, but we call it Tel Aviv Institute because we feel like Tel Aviv is a city that represents a lot of our values. The first thing we’ve done is research antisemitism online, working with Dr. Matthias Becker, a researcher from Berlin University. He had a team of nine linguists and data scientists analyze messaging on social media. Bottom line is that people really hate Jews online. I think they found that the two top targeted communities are the gay community and Jews, with Jews coming first. We realized that we have to do something to change it. 

And about three years ago we started the Jews Talk Justice Laboratories. We bring together social media content creators, Jewish ones that have big platforms, and also influencers outside of social media. Most of them were held in Tel Aviv in Israel. We did a couple in New York. We had one in LA just a couple months ago. It was a short one, a one-day lab with Debra Messing, Jennifer Goodwin and Emmanuelle Chriqui was there.

Besides you, who is speaking out on behalf of Israel most effectively?

Amy Schumer. She’s been on her Instagram. She reposted a lot of my content which was really amazing, and we direct message each other.

Let’s talk about her. I think she’s a good case study. She was, out of the gate after October 7th, one of the loudest and most consistent pro-Israel celebrities — but it backfired on her. I wonder now what the longterm effect on her career that’s going to have. Another one is Jerry Seinfeld dealing with hecklers in his audiences. Steven Spielberg is now being attacked as a “Zionist.”

The definition of Zionism has been changed and there were so many things added to it. Zionism just means supporting Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. It just means that Jews should have this one place in the world that is theirs. There are 57 Arab and Muslim countries in the Middle East and there are countless countries with a Christian majority in Europe. There should be a country that is Jewish, it should be OK.

But Zionism has been reframed and rebranded so poorly that now for anyone from the entertainment industry that has spoken up, there is real backlash. You shouldn’t have to face consequences for speaking about your Jewish identity. A lot of people support the cause and send me direct messages on social media saying thank you, but they don’t feel comfortable speaking up. I’m talking about big names, very big entertainers. A major singer told me, “It’s a massive business around me, and if I jeopardize this, it’s not just me, it’s my entire production and crew that are going to be hurt.”

What about Michael Rappaport? He’s very extreme in his pro-Israel views. Do you think he’s too extreme? Is he hurting the cause?

I think that as many Jews as possible in the entertainment industry and people with influence should speak up. I don’t think it’s harming the cause. I think that it’s just his opinions and he can say what he wants to say. Of course, I don’t agree with everything he says. And sometimes I think we have different styles, but at least he’s doing it. At least he speaks up. So I give him credit for being outspoken. Knowing personally what it takes and how much hate you get every day, it’s very hard to resist being more aggressive when you face that.

Recently an agent at WME, Brandt Joel, was at the center of a controversy for typing, “Screw the left kill all,” in a Jewish work WhatsApp group. I’m curious what your thoughts are about these WhatsApp groups that have popped up in Hollywood since Oct. 7.

I’m part of several WhatsApp groups, including entertainment groups, and I see people being very angry in them. Because I’ve been doing it for over a decade, I’m not as emotionally triggered, but I see how you can be and how you can get so pushed to the point that you say things that you regret. I speak in private with many celebrities and entertainment industry folk who are sharing that those groups are not doing well for their mental health. My advice is to take a step back and go outside and touch grass, because it’s important. It’s true, the situation is really bad. And the Anti-Defamation League has recorded the highest amount of antisemitic crimes in the last year since they started recording such crimes. With all of that being said, we’ve been through wars as a community, and I still have faith in the world.

I’m remembering at Eurovision, when Israel got so much of the popular vote. Is social media giving us a skewed sense of what the public really thinks?

Yes. The answer is a resounding yes.

This interview was edited for length and clarity.