Short answer: As of August 2026, there is no clear, confirmed personal statement from Rita Ora on Israel or the Israel-Hamas war in the reputable record. The one concrete Israel-related event on file is a 2018 concert cancellation for health reasons, not politics. She is married to filmmaker Taika Waititi, who is Jewish on his mother's side, which gives her a Jewish family connection by marriage. A claim circulating online that she signed a 2023 celebrity letter to President Biden calling for the hostages' release could not be confirmed in the primary reporting on that letter.
What Rita Ora has actually said and done
June 27, 2018: Rita Ora, booked in April to co-headline the Lollipop festival near Tel Aviv on August 1 alongside Jason Derulo, she withdrew from her set shortly before the date, citing health reasons. Derulo's performance went ahead as scheduled, according to The Jerusalem Post. Contemporaneous coverage frames it as a routine, logistical cancellation, not a political statement or boycott.
April 2019: UNICEF UK named Rita Ora an official Ambassador following a visit to her native Kosovo, building on refugee-focused advocacy she had already been doing for the organization since 2013. UNICEF UK's own profile of her, viewable at unicef.org.uk, contains no statements on Israel, Gaza, or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; her advocacy there centers on her own family's history as Kosovar refugees.
August 4, 2022: Rita Ora married film director Taika Waititi in a small private ceremony in Los Angeles, a marriage the couple confirmed publicly in 2023, as reported by Gulf News. Waititi is Maori on his father's side and Jewish on his mother's side, with Russian-Jewish heritage; his mother's maiden name, Cohen, is one he sometimes uses professionally, per Hey Alma. That heritage gives Ora a Jewish family connection through marriage, though it is not a statement of her own views.
As of August 2026: No on-record statement from Rita Ora herself addressing October 7, the hostages, or the war appears in any reputable outlet checked. A widely repeated online claim that she signed the October 2023 open letter to President Biden calling for the return of hostages held by Hamas does not appear in the primary reporting on that letter's signatories, including Newsweek's dedicated full-list article on the campaign.
The bigger picture
Rita Ora, born in Pristina in what was then Yugoslavia, has spoken publicly for years, chiefly through her UNICEF UK ambassador role, about her family fleeing Kosovo as refugees. That biography centers her Kosovar Albanian identity, not any personal Jewish or Israeli connection. Her most concrete tie to Israel on the public record is professional and predates the current conflict: a booked 2018 festival appearance near Tel Aviv that she pulled out of for health reasons while her co-headliner performed as planned.
Her marriage to Taika Waititi, confirmed by the couple in 2023, is the clearest documented link between her household and Jewish identity. Waititi has spoken openly about his Russian-Jewish mother and how that heritage shaped his work, including Jojo Rabbit. Still, that is a family connection through marriage, not a statement from Ora herself.
The specific claim that put Rita Ora's name into "does she support Israel" searches, that she signed a 2023 open letter of Hollywood figures thanking President Biden and urging the hostages' return, circulates widely on social media and on activist tracking sites. Repeated checks of the outlets that actually reported the letter and its signatories, including Newsweek's dedicated coverage, did not turn up her name. Given that gap, the claim should be treated as unconfirmed rather than established fact. As a UNICEF UK ambassador, Ora also has not been reported sharing Gaza-focused humanitarian appeals or commenting, positive or critical, on Israel's conduct in the war. That silence, common among many entertainers who avoid the topic altogether, is the most consistent, well-supported fact in her public record on this question.
The bottom line
Rita Ora has no confirmed personal record of pro-Israel or anti-Israel advocacy. Her only concrete link to Israel is a 2018 concert booking she withdrew from for health reasons, and her closest connection to Jewish identity runs through her husband, Taika Waititi, who is Jewish on his mother's side. The often-repeated claim that she signed a 2023 hostage-release letter to President Biden could not be verified in this research and should not be presented as established fact.
Wear your own answer
Whether or not a given celebrity has gone on record, plenty of people want a plain, everyday way to say where they stand. Our Star of David jewelry collection is one of the simplest: pieces worn quietly, day to day, as a statement of Jewish pride and support for Israel that does not need a headline to back it up.
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Last updated August 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
