Does Tom Holland Support Israel?

Tal Feldman Feb 20, 2025 Updated Jul 22, 2026 5 min read

Short answer: As of July 2026, the answer depends entirely on which Tom Holland you mean. Most people searching mean the actor. Tom Holland the actor (Marvel's Spider-Man) is not Jewish, was raised Roman Catholic, and has never made a public statement about Israel or the Israel-Gaza war on either side. He stepped back from social media in 2022 and has stayed silent through 2024 and 2025. Tom Holland the British historian (co-host of "The Rest Is History") is also not Jewish, and his record is more specific than a simple yes or no. He has repeatedly condemned antisemitism and said non-Jewish Britons have a responsibility to make their Jewish fellow citizens feel valued and safe. He has also been openly critical of Israel itself, calling its conduct in Gaza "brutal & counter-productive" in October 2025. So the historian is a clear opponent of antisemitism and a defender of Jewish safety, but he is not a supporter of Israel.

What Tom Holland has actually said and done

November 2019: The historian Tom Holland signs a public letter to The Guardian denouncing Jeremy Corbyn over Labour antisemitism, and in a Daily Telegraph piece condemns Corbyn's backing of activist Raed Salah, a promoter of the blood libel, writing that "England, as the birthplace of this most toxic of lies, has a particular responsibility to take a stand against it" (Wikipedia, Tom Holland author).
August 15, 2022: The actor Tom Holland announces he is stepping away from Instagram and Twitter for his mental health, part of why he rarely comments on political or geopolitical issues, Israel included, as reported by Variety.
October 2023: In the days after October 7, the historian posts about the Israel-Gaza war, tying the conflict's roots to the Arch of Titus in Rome and engaging publicly on the war, unlike the actor, who stayed silent (Tom Holland on X).
October 2023: The historian writes that "all of us in the UK who are not Jewish ... have a responsibility in these troubled times to make our Jewish fellow-citizens feel valued & safe. A responsibility that clearly right now we are failing to meet. It shames the country," as reported by Jewish News (UK) and posted on his own X account.
October 21, 2023: When more than 60 actors and artists sign the Artists4Ceasefire letter to President Biden, the actor Tom Holland is not among the signatories (his fellow Spider-Man actor Andrew Garfield is), and Holland issues no statement of his own, per NPR.
October 2025: Answering a critic on X, the historian writes that "it isn't impossible to hold both that Israel's behaviour in Gaza is brutal & counter-productive, & that Jews in my country should not be murdered" (Tom Holland on X). It is an explicit criticism of Israel's conduct in Gaza, set alongside an equally explicit stand against antisemitism.
2024-2025: The actor and his partner Zendaya face repeated social-media criticism for staying silent on Gaza. That commentary is illustrative of the pressure, not a statement by Holland himself, who made no public statement on the conflict during this period.
May 2026: The historian condemns an antisemitic attack in Golders Green, London, writing that a country where Jews are attacked for being Jewish and synagogues need security is "exactly what we've become," which The Jewish Chronicle cited in grouping him among allies of the Jewish community.

Two men, one name: the identity question

Neither Tom Holland is Jewish, worth stating plainly because "is Tom Holland Jewish" is such a common search. The actor (born 1996, Marvel's Spider-Man) was raised Roman Catholic and attended two Catholic schools in Wimbledon; he keeps his beliefs private and is Christian, not Jewish. The historian (born 1968, author of "Rubicon," "Dominion," and "Persian Fire," and co-host of "The Rest Is History") was raised Anglican and now describes himself as a cultural Christian who attends Anglican services but lacks belief in the supernatural. He is likewise not Jewish.

The confusion comes from blending the two: older write-ups describe the historian's profession ("renowned British author and historian") while readers searching the name almost always mean the actor. The talk about Israel attaches to the historian, not the actor, and his record cuts two ways. On antisemitism he is unambiguous: the 2019 Corbyn and Raed Salah blood-libel condemnation, his October 2023 call to keep Jewish citizens "valued & safe," and his May 2026 condemnation of the Golders Green attack. On Israel itself he is a critic. In October 2025 he called Israel's conduct in Gaza "brutal & counter-productive," while insisting in the same breath that Jews in Britain must not be murdered, and he has also said Britain must make British people of Palestinian descent feel safe. So his stance is firmly against antisemitism and for Jewish safety, but it is not support for Israel or its government's policy. Opposing the persecution of Jews is not the same thing as backing the Jewish state, and in Holland's case the two clearly diverge.

The bottom line

If you mean the actor: Tom Holland is not Jewish and has no public position on Israel at all, so there is nothing to celebrate or condemn, only silence. If you mean the historian: he is also not Jewish, and his record splits. He is a real and repeated opponent of antisemitism and a defender of Jewish safety, especially after October 7, which has led allies of the Jewish community to count him among their friends. But he is not a supporter of Israel. He has publicly called its conduct in Gaza "brutal & counter-productive." Standing against the persecution of Jews and standing behind the Jewish state are two different positions, and the historian holds the first without the second. The record looks mixed partly because two different men share one name, and partly because one of them genuinely holds a mixed view. Taken on its own terms, each is clear.

Support Israel directly

When public figures stay silent or split the difference, your own voice still counts. If you want to say plainly where you stand, you do not need a celebrity to say it first. Our I Stand With Israel collection lets you wear your own answer, from Star of David necklaces to IDF tees, each one a small, everyday way to show solidarity with the Jewish state and the people who call it home.

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