Does Jon Voight Support Israel?

David Svetsky Feb 19, 2025 4 min read

Short answer: As of July 2026, yes: Jon Voight is a longtime, vocal, and well-documented supporter of Israel. He has visited Israel and the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) repeatedly, publicly defended Israel after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, criticized his own daughter Angelina Jolie and other celebrities over their pro-Palestinian statements, been publicly associated with Chabad's Children of Chernobyl campaign since at least the mid-2000s, and was ranked among Israel's Top 50 Christian Allies by the Israel Allies Foundation in 2021. His support is rooted in evangelical Christian belief, not Jewish ancestry: no reputable source establishes Jewish heritage for Voight.

What Jon Voight has actually said and done

2014: Voight wrote an open letter in The Hollywood Reporter criticizing actors Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz over a letter they signed accusing Israel of "genocide" in Gaza, writing that he was "heartsick" that people like them "could incite anti-Semitism all over the world," per The Hollywood Reporter.
February 16, 2022: While in Israel filming a project, Voight toured Samaria and Judea (the West Bank) alongside Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan, calling the area "the heart of the land of Israel" and questioning the term "West Bank." He also visited the biblical site of Shiloh, according to The Jerusalem Post.
October 11, 2023: Days after the Hamas attack on Israel, Voight posted a video quoting the Old Testament and declaring strong support for Israel and its response, calling the attacks "inhuman terror on innocent babies, mothers, fathers, grandparents," as recorded on Jon Voight's own X account.
Early November 2023: Voight publicly criticized his daughter Angelina Jolie's pro-Palestinian stance, saying she misunderstood the conflict, calling pro-Palestinian activists who blame Israel "fools," and framing the war as a fight for "the justice of God's children in the Holy Land," per The Times of Israel (published November 5, 2023).
2024: In an interview with Variety, Voight reiterated that Jolie's stance on Israel and Palestine "comes from ignorance" and said she had "been influenced by antisemitic people," while also discussing his outspoken support for Donald Trump.
2021: The Israel Allies Foundation ranked Voight 19th on its "Israel's Top 50 Christian Allies" list, citing his vocal defense of Israel, his opposition to antisemitism in Hollywood, and his long involvement with Chabad's Children of Chernobyl medical aid charity, according to the Israel Allies Foundation and Aish.
January 17, 2025: President Trump appointed Voight, alongside Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone, as a Special Ambassador to Hollywood; outlets including the Algemeiner noted his standing as a leading pro-Israel voice in the industry.
2023 to 2025: Voight hosted and starred in "The Land of Israel with Jon Voight: God's Story," a television series taking viewers through the Holy Land and biblical sites, reinforcing his public identity as a Christian advocate for Israel, listed on IMDb.
Late 2025: Director Bryan Singer's previously secret film starring Voight, a period drama set in the Middle East during Israel's occupation of Lebanon in the late 1970s and 1980s, was revealed publicly. The project does not yet have a release plan, per Variety.

His connection to Israel is Christian faith, not Jewish ancestry

Jon Voight (born 1938), the Oscar-winning actor known for "Midnight Cowboy," "Deliverance," and "Coming Home," and father of Angelina Jolie, has been one of Hollywood's most consistent and outspoken pro-Israel voices for decades. His support is religious and ideological, grounded in evangelical Christian belief in the biblical significance of the Holy Land, not personal Jewish ancestry. No reputable source found in this research indicates he is Jewish or has Jewish family heritage.

His most substantial documented tie to the Jewish community is a long, publicly visible relationship with Chabad's Children of Chernobyl, a charity providing medical care to Russian Jewish children affected by the 1986 nuclear disaster. Coverage dating back to at least a 2008 Jewish Telegraphic Agency profile shows him attending Chabad events, welcoming evacuated children to Israel, and appearing on Chabad telethons for the cause, and the Israel Allies Foundation credits him with more than two decades tied to the charity. He has physically visited Israel multiple times, including a February 2022 tour of Judea and Samaria with local settlement leadership, and has starred in a Holy Land themed docuseries. Since October 7, 2023, he has been especially vocal, posting videotaped statements of support for Israel and publicly rebuking his own daughter for her pro-Palestinian statements. He is politically conservative, a prominent Trump supporter, and was named a Trump appointed Special Ambassador to Hollywood in January 2025 alongside Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone. No boycott activity, BDS association, or any statement critical of Israel by Voight was found in this research; his public record is uniformly and consistently pro-Israel.

The bottom line

Jon Voight's support for Israel is real, longstanding, and well documented across mainstream outlets, including the Jerusalem Post, the Times of Israel, Variety, the Hollywood Reporter, and Algemeiner, spanning site visits, on-camera statements defending Israel after October 7, public criticism of Angelina Jolie's and other celebrities' anti-Israel comments, and decades of charitable involvement with a Chabad children's cause. His backing is Christian and evangelical in nature, not derived from Jewish ancestry, which no source confirms.

Support Israel directly

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Last updated July 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.