Jon Voight Slams Cruz, Bardem On Israel: “Oblivious To The Damage They Have Caused”

(Deadline) In response to the strongly-worded July 29 letter signed by Bardem, Cruz and Pedro Almodovar, among others and published in a Spanish newspaper, Voight blasted the actors this morning with his own Open letter saying they have defamed the only democratic country of goodwill in the Middle East: Israel (Bardem and Cruz later clarified their statements this week).

A longtime, outspoken supporter of Israel, Voight wrote that Bardem and Cruz should “hang their heads in shame” over their shortsightedness with the country’s situation, arguing that they “incited anti-Semitism all over the world and are oblivious to the damage that they have caused.”

When asked by Deadline this morning to expand on his op-ed, Voight said, “The letter says everything I need to say and I don’t want to diffuse what the words say in the letter.”

Voight wrote that Israel has always sought peaceful relations with its Arab neighbors, returning the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt and giving Gaza to the Palestinians as a peace gesture: “What was the response? The Palestinians elected Hamas, a terrorist organization, and they immediately began firing thousands of rockets into Israel.”

“I am asking all my peers who signed that poison letter against Israel to examine their motives. Can you take back the fire of anti-Semitism that is raging all over the world now? You have been able to become famous and have all your monetary gains because you are in a democratic country: America. 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,” said the Oscar-winning actor in his letter.

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