Does Sarah Silverman Support Israel?

Zach Mandel Feb 20, 2025 Updated Aug 06, 2026 4 min read

Short answer: Yes, in a complicated way. Sarah Silverman is Jewish, has family living in Israel (her sister Susan Silverman is a Reform rabbi in Jerusalem), condemned Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack as terrorism, and quit the Democratic Socialists of America over its response to the attack. But she has also criticized Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israeli policy, briefly reposted then deleted a pro-Israel Instagram statement after backlash, and describes herself as "politically homeless" rather than a straightforward Israel advocate. As of August 2026, this remains the most accurate picture of where she stands.

What Sarah Silverman has actually said and done

October 7-8, 2023: Within a day of Hamas's attack on Israel, Silverman posted on X that "Hamas is a terror organization who's mission statement is kill all Jews," noted that her sister and nieces and nephews live in Israel and have protested Netanyahu for months, and called to "fight for a two state solution." Read the original post on X.
October 8, 2023: Silverman announced on Instagram that she was quitting the Democratic Socialists of America after being a member for a decade, saying the group "has lost me forever" over a statement connecting the Hamas attack to Israeli "apartheid." The Nation and Forbes both covered her exit.
October 18, 2023: Silverman reposted an Instagram statement defending Israel's decision to cut off water and electricity to Gaza pending hostage releases, and criticizing figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for calling Israel "inhumane" instead of pressing Hamas to release hostages. She deleted the post soon after facing backlash, as reported by Newsweek and Consequence.
October 19, 2023 (recorded October 17): Silverman released an 18-minute podcast episode on the Israel-Hamas war, saying "All this death and rage between cousins. I can't stand it," describing herself as "politically homeless" as a progressive Jew, criticizing the DSA's response for lacking empathy for murdered Israelis, while also expressing concern for Gazan civilians and criticizing Netanyahu. Details via The Forward.
October 22, 2023 (reported): Silverman walked back the pro-Israel repost after intense online criticism, telling reporters in a Los Angeles Times interview, "I f***ed up," and explaining she had been high when she shared it, though she said she usually makes more measured decisions. Reported by Newsweek.
Undated, pre-2023: Silverman has said she has visited Israel, including for a nephew's bar mitzvah, and that her Jewish upbringing was culturally "Jewsy" rather than religiously observant. Her sister Susan Silverman is a Reform rabbi in Jerusalem and a Women of the Wall member, and Sarah has joined Women of the Wall for a Hanukkah menorah lighting at the Western Wall, according to a Times of Israel blog post recounting a live interview.
May 2025: Silverman released a new Netflix special, "PostMortem," addressing the deaths of her father Donald and stepmother Janice, who died nine days apart in 2023, continuing what she has described as a Jewish tradition of finding humor within grief. The special did not focus on Israel but reflects her ongoing public engagement with Jewish identity, per the Times of Israel's topic page on her.

Where she actually stands

Silverman's relationship to Israel is personal and unresolved rather than a clean "pro" or "anti" stance. She is Jewish by upbringing, raised in a secular but culturally Jewish home in New Hampshire, and has direct family ties to Israel through her sister Susan Silverman, a Reform rabbi in Jerusalem and Women of the Wall activist, whose children (Silverman's nieces and nephews) live in Israel. Silverman has visited Israel, including for a family bar mitzvah, though her connection appears to run more through family and Jewish identity than through religious or ideological attachment to the state.

The October 7, 2023 Hamas attack pushed her into the public conversation in a pointed way. She unambiguously called Hamas a terrorist organization with genocidal intent and quit the DSA, a group she had belonged to for a decade, after it issued a statement she read as blaming Israel rather than condemning the attack. That is a concrete, documented break with the pro-Palestinian left over October 7 specifically.

At the same time, she is not a uniform Israel advocate. She has criticized Netanyahu directly, voiced sympathy for Palestinian civilian suffering, and briefly shared, then deleted and apologized for, a post defending Israel's cutoff of water and electricity to Gaza after immediate public backlash, admitting she had posted it while impaired. She has described her position as "politically homeless": too pro-Israel for parts of the progressive left, too critical of Netanyahu and Israeli policy for hardline pro-Israel audiences. There is no evidence of Silverman participating in or endorsing a boycott of Israel; the documented record instead shows her breaking from an organization over what she saw as insufficient condemnation of Hamas.

The bottom line

Sarah Silverman is Jewish with real family ties to Israel, condemned the October 7 Hamas attack in strong terms and cut ties with the DSA over it, but her broader public record shows a mixed, self-described "politically homeless" position that includes real criticism of Netanyahu and Israeli policy alongside a pro-Israel instinct that surfaces at moments of crisis. She is not a boycotter and has not disavowed Israel; she is also not a simple, uncomplicated pro-Israel advocate.

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