Short answer: No. As of August 2026, Penélope Cruz has repeatedly criticized Israeli military action in Gaza and expressed public solidarity with Palestinians, most notably signing a 2014 open letter that called Israel's Gaza operation "genocide." She later said her intent was only to call for peace on both sides, and in 2025 her Instagram activity, while critical of Israel, also acknowledged the Israeli hostages' return. She has not visited Israel, has no documented Jewish-identity connection, and did not sign the 2025 Hollywood boycott pledge against Israeli film institutions that her husband Javier Bardem did sign.
What Penélope Cruz has actually said and done
- July 28-29, 2014: Cruz, husband Javier Bardem, director Pedro Almodóvar, and roughly 100 other Spanish entertainment figures signed an open letter published in the Spanish press calling Israel's military operation in Gaza "genocide" and demanding the EU condemn the bombing and Israel lift the Gaza blockade, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter and CBS News.
- August 1, 2014: After backlash, including public criticism from actor Jon Voight, who accused the letter of promoting antisemitism, Cruz issued a clarification: "I don't want to be misunderstood on this important subject... My only wish and intention in signing that group letter is the hope that there will be peace in both Israel and Gaza," according to The Hollywood Reporter. Bardem separately said the couple "detest antisemitism," per Time.
- December 2023: During the Israel-Hamas war, Cruz shared an Instagram story reading "Ceasefire now," a message widely circulated as support for ending the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, as noted by The New Arab and Dunya News.
- October 13 to 14, 2025: As the October 2025 ceasefire brought home the last living Israeli hostages alongside a mass release of Palestinian prisoners, Cruz posted Instagram stories covering both sides: the reunion of freed Israeli hostage Matan Tzangauker with his mother, and footage of a released Palestinian prisoner reuniting with family. The pairing drew criticism in Israel for appearing to equate the two releases, per OKDiario and Telecinco.
- October 14 to 16, 2025: Israeli model Bar Refaeli publicly pushed back on Cruz over the post, writing that comparing the release of 20 Israeli hostages "brutally kidnapped from their homes" to the release of roughly 2,000 convicted Palestinian prisoners was not an equivalent comparison, a exchange covered by Israel Hayom and Libertad Digital.
- September 11, 2025: Over 4,000 actors and filmmakers, including Javier Bardem, signed a "Film Workers for Palestine" pledge to boycott Israeli film institutions, as reported by The Times of Israel. Penélope Cruz was not listed among the signatories on the published lists reviewed.
The context behind her public record
Penélope Cruz is an Oscar-winning Spanish actress (Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Pain and Glory) married to fellow actor Javier Bardem. On the Israel question, her public record is consistently critical of Israeli military action in Gaza rather than supportive of Israel. The clearest instance is the 2014 open letter she signed alongside Bardem and Pedro Almodóvar describing Israel's Gaza operation as "genocide," which she walked back somewhat under pressure, framing her intent as a call for peace on both sides rather than a one-sided condemnation. That pattern repeated in December 2023 with her "Ceasefire now" post, and again in October 2025, when her Instagram activity around the return of the last Israeli hostages and a simultaneous Palestinian prisoner release drew sharp criticism from Israeli model Bar Refaeli for seeming to equate hostages taken by Hamas with convicted prisoners. Notably, Cruz did not sign the September 2025 Hollywood pledge to boycott Israeli film institutions that her husband Bardem did sign. There is no evidence she has ever visited Israel, donated to Israeli causes, or has any documented Jewish or Sephardic family connection.
The bottom line
Penélope Cruz does not support Israel in any public, documented sense. Her track record from 2014 through 2025 consists of statements and social media activity critical of Israeli military action in Gaza and supportive of Palestinians, tempered by her own insistence that she seeks peace rather than takes a partisan side. She has never visited Israel, has no known Jewish-identity connection, and stopped short of joining the 2025 industry-wide boycott of Israeli film institutions that her husband signed.
Wear your own answer
Whatever any one celebrity says or doesn't say, plenty of people want to make their own position on Israel unmistakable, in a way that's steady rather than tied to whatever's trending that week. The I Stand With Israel bracelet is a simple, everyday way to do that, and it sits within our full Support Israel collection if you're looking for more ways to show where you actually stand.
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Last updated August 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
