Short answer: As of August 2026, Mel Brooks (living, age 100) has not made any public statement about Israel, the Israel-Hamas war, or the October 7, 2023 hostages, and his name does not appear on the 700-plus-signature pro-Israel open letter that circulated through Hollywood weeks after the attack. His connection to Israel runs entirely through a lifelong, proudly stated Jewish identity and decades of Nazi-mocking, Jewish-inflected comedy, not through any political statement on the Jewish state itself.
What Mel Brooks has actually said and done
- December 7, 2021: In an NPR Fresh Air interview with Terry Gross, Brooks said, "I'm tribal. I love being a Jew and I love Jewish humor," describing his love for "the trappings of being a Jew, the dinners, the jokes," and recalling Passover at his grandfather's house in Bensonhurst. This remains his clearest on-record statement of Jewish identity, but it is about Jewish culture and heritage, not about Israel or Israeli politics.
- October 12, 2023: Creative Community for Peace released its "Israel Under Attack" open letter days after the Hamas attack, eventually gathering more than 700 (later cited at 2,000-plus) entertainment-industry signatures, including Gal Gadot, Jerry Seinfeld, Michael Douglas, Sarah Silverman, Debra Messing, Mayim Bialik, and Amy Schumer, condemning Hamas and voicing support for Israel and the hostages. Mel Brooks's name is not among the signatories, according to both the Creative Community for Peace letter itself and Variety's coverage of it.
- June 28, 2026: Mel Brooks turned 100 years old. NBC News's retrospective on the milestone recapped his career, his WWII veteran service, and his Jewish-identity comedy legacy, with no mention of any statement on Israel or the Gaza war.
Why the record looks the way it does
Mel Brooks (born Melvin Kaminsky, June 28, 1926) is a WWII combat veteran and one of American comedy's most decorated Jewish figures. He built a career substantially on mocking Nazis and antisemitism, from "The Producers" to "To Be or Not to Be," and has spoken for decades, on the record, about pride in Jewish identity and humor. That record, however, is entirely about Jewishness as culture and heritage, not about Israel as a state or its policies. He was not among the 700-plus (later reported as 2,000-plus) entertainment figures, including peers like Jerry Seinfeld, Sarah Silverman, and Michael Douglas, who signed the Creative Community for Peace open letter in the weeks after October 7, 2023. No reputable outlet turned up any Brooks statement, donation, event appearance, or boycott-related action tied to Israel, the war, or the hostages, through his 100th birthday in June 2026 or after. He also has not made any statement critical of Israel; he has simply not addressed the subject at all.
The bottom line
Mel Brooks has not weighed in on Israel one way or another. He is a proud, outspoken Jew by identity and decades of Jewish-themed comedy, but at 100 years old he has stayed entirely out of the Israel/Gaza-war conversation, including sitting out the major Hollywood pro-Israel open letter after October 7. There is no public record of him supporting or opposing Israel politically.
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Last updated August 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
