Does Mark Wahlberg Support Israel?

Shelly Zimmerman Feb 27, 2025 3 min read

Short answer: As of July 2026, the strongest evidence that Mark Wahlberg supports Israel is a single documented action: he attended the 2015 Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) gala in Beverly Hills, a night that raised about $31 million for Israeli soldiers. Beyond that, his Israel connection is cultural and light, mainly the Hebrew phrases he picked up from Israeli co-star Gal Gadot and later showed off in interviews. Wahlberg is a devout Catholic (not Jewish), has never publicly weighed in on the October 7 attacks or the Gaza war, and, importantly, is not one of the actors who signed the 2025 Hollywood boycott of Israeli film institutions. That signatory was Mark Ruffalo, a different actor with whom he is often confused.

What Mark Wahlberg has actually said and done

2010: Wahlberg co-stars with Israeli actress Gal Gadot in the comedy Date Night, where she plays his character's girlfriend. As The Jerusalem Post reports, this is widely cited as where he picked up his Hebrew phrases.
November 5, 2015: Wahlberg attends the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) Western Region Gala at the Beverly Hilton, a sold-out event of about 1,200 people that raised roughly $31 million for Israeli soldiers in one night. Both The Times of Israel and The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the total. This is his single most concrete pro-Israel action on the public record.
November 2017: During a Daddy's Home 2 promotional interview with Israeli outlet ynet (Yedioth Ahronoth), Wahlberg enthusiastically demonstrates his Hebrew, largely slang and curses reportedly taught to him by Gal Gadot. As The Jerusalem Post noted, the clip circulated widely in Jewish media.
2022: Wahlberg is publicly and repeatedly open about being a devout, practicing Catholic, named one of Our Sunday Visitor's Catholics of the Year. That helps clarify that his interest in Hebrew and Israel is cultural and personal, not a Jewish-identity connection.
September 2025: More than 1,300 film-industry figures sign a pledge to boycott Israeli film institutions over the Gaza war. As The Times of Israel and The Hollywood Reporter both make clear, Mark Wahlberg is not a signatory. The "Mark" on the list is Mark Ruffalo, which underscores that Wahlberg has taken no anti-Israel action.

Catholic faith, a co-star's Hebrew, and a case of mistaken identity

Mark Wahlberg is an American actor and producer, born in 1971 in Boston, and he is not Jewish. He is one of Hollywood's most openly religious stars, a devout, practicing Catholic who talks freely about daily Mass, prayer, and Lent. His Israel connection runs along two real threads. The first is that one concrete philanthropic appearance: he was among the celebrity guests (alongside Jason Alexander, Antonio Banderas, Liev Schreiber, Jason Segel, and Israeli-born Gene Simmons) at the November 2015 FIDF gala that raised about $31 million for Israeli soldiers. Even a pro-Palestinian watchlist catalogs that same event as his notable pro-Israel act. The second thread is a cultural quirk: he learned Hebrew phrases, mostly slang and curses, from co-star Gal Gadot on the 2010 film Date Night, and has shown them off in interviews that Jewish outlets covered fondly. One frequent point of confusion is worth flagging plainly: it is Mark Ruffalo, not Mark Wahlberg, who has publicly criticized Israel and signed the 2025 industry boycott. Wahlberg himself has made no public statement about the October 7 attacks or the Gaza war either way.

The bottom line

Mark Wahlberg leans quietly pro-Israel: he lent his name and presence to a major Israeli-soldier fundraiser in 2015 and has warmly shown off Hebrew he learned from an Israeli co-star, while never criticizing Israel or joining any boycott. But it is a light, largely cultural footprint, not activism. He has never made a substantive public statement on Israel, the October 7 attacks, or the Gaza war, and his own faith is Catholic, not Jewish. Read him as friendly but uninvolved, and do not confuse him with the anti-Israel Mark Ruffalo.

Wear your own answer

Wahlberg's clearest pro-Israel moment was simple: he showed up for Israeli soldiers at a fundraiser and let his name help raise money. You do not need a Beverly Hills gala to do the same. If reading about a celebrity's quiet stance leaves you wanting to make your own support unmistakable, our IDF collection lets you wear it plainly, from soldier-honoring tees to everyday pieces that put your answer on the record. It is one small, direct way to stand with Israel and the people who defend her, no red carpet required.

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