Short answer: As of July 2026, yes. Barbra Streisand is a proud, openly Jewish supporter of Israel with a long, documented record. She performed in Israel in 2013 (including at Shimon Peres's 90th birthday celebration), won the 2023 Genesis Prize (often called "the Jewish Nobel"), and sent emergency funding to Israel after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. Her support is warm but not uncritical: she has publicly criticized ultra-Orthodox discrimination against women in Israel and has called for a two-state solution, which drew pushback.
What Barbra Streisand has actually said and done
- June 17, 2013: Streisand received an honorary doctorate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and used the ceremony to criticize ultra-Orthodox treatment of women, saying it was "distressing to read about women in Israel being forced to sit in the back of a bus" or having "metal chairs thrown at them" when trying to pray, and objecting to women "being banned from singing in public ceremonies," as reported by The Christian Science Monitor and corroborated by the World Jewish Congress.
- June 18, 2013: She performed the liturgical "Avinu Malkeinu" in Hebrew and her signature "People" at Shimon Peres's 90th birthday celebration in Jerusalem, part of the Israeli Presidential Conference, before an audience that included Bill Clinton, per The Times of Israel.
- June 20, 2013: Streisand gave her first concert in Israel, at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv before about 16,000 people, closing with an emotional rendition of Israel's national anthem "Hatikva" as the crowd rose to its feet, again reported by The Times of Israel.
- May 1, 2023: She was named the tenth-anniversary laureate of the Genesis Prize, a $1 million award for commitment to Jewish values; the foundation's announcement described her as "supportive of Israel" and an "outspoken critic of rising antisemitism."
- October 20, 2023: After the October 7 Hamas attack, Streisand posted on X, "My heart is broken for all the suffering of innocent civilians in Israel, Palestine, and Ukraine. Terrorism must not triumph," as covered by Newsweek.
- December 2023: She moved quickly to send emergency funding to Israel through a grant to the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles's Israel in Crisis Fund, which was matched by the Genesis Prize Foundation, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Around the same period she also advocated a two-state solution on Instagram, which drew criticism from some supporters of Israel, as Newsweek reported.
- October 7, 2024: On the one-year anniversary of the attack, Streisand posted that her heart broke "for all those who lost their lives" and "for every hostage who has not yet been returned home," honoring the victims of October 7, per her account on X and coverage in Newsweek.
A lifelong, openly Jewish identity
Streisand was born in Brooklyn into a religious Jewish household and attended the Orthodox Yeshiva of Brooklyn as a young child. She has said industry figures told her early on to "tone down her Jewishness," and she refused, as Prize Foundation CEO Stan Polovets recounted to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in June 2024. She frames her giving through the idea of tikkun olam ("to repair the world") and has introduced Jewish characters into her films. Her Streisand Foundation has funded more than 2,000 causes over its history. The Genesis Prize Foundation describes her as "generous to Jewish causes, supportive of Israel, and an outspoken critic of rising antisemitism." That is a mainstream progressive-Zionist posture: affectionate toward Israel, willing to critique specific domestic social practices, and nowhere near hostility or boycott. The public critique of ultra-Orthodox treatment of women is the source of the "complex" framing you may see in older write-ups.
The bottom line
The public record is clear and consistent. Streisand supports Israel and identifies strongly and publicly as Jewish. She has performed there, been honored with the Genesis Prize, and funded Israeli relief after October 7. She is not part of any boycott of Israel. The nuance worth stating plainly: she has criticized ultra-Orthodox treatment of women and backs a two-state solution, so her support is engaged and values-driven rather than uncritical.
Wear your own answer
Streisand's record is a reminder that supporting Israel can be public, proud, and personal. If that resonates, you can show where you stand in your own way. Browse our Support Israel collection for pieces that carry the message, from Star of David jewelry to Am Yisrael Chai apparel, so your everyday wardrobe says plainly what you believe. Every order backs a store built to celebrate Israel and Jewish identity.
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Last updated July 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
