Short answer: As of July 2026, Whoopi Goldberg does not fit neatly into "supports Israel" or "supports Palestine." She has visited Israel in the past (reportedly planting a tree there), calls herself Jewish by chosen identity despite having no Jewish ancestry, and has publicly said her support for Jewish people "has not wavered," but on air she has repeatedly pushed back against calling Hamas straightforwardly "the bad guys," criticized media coverage of pro-Palestinian campus protests, and describes feeling "a real connection" to both Israel and Palestine ("We are one people"). She has not endorsed BDS or any boycott of Israel, and has not been reported making Israel-specific donations or attending Israel advocacy events.
What Whoopi Goldberg has actually said and done
- May 2011: In an interview with The Jewish Chronicle, Goldberg said she had visited Israel in the past and planted a tree there, describing "a real connection there, but also with Palestine as well... We are one people, we really are." She also described her Jewish identity as chosen rather than inherited: "I just know I am Jewish. I practise nothing. I don't go to temple, but I do remember the holidays."
- January 31, 2022: On "The View," Goldberg said the Holocaust "was not about race," calling it instead "man's inhumanity to other man." The comment drew sharp criticism, including from the ADL, according to PBS NewsHour.
- February 1, 2022: After apologizing on-air and online, Goldberg was suspended by ABC News for two weeks over the Holocaust remarks, per PBS NewsHour. She stated separately, as reported by AOL: "In this time of rising antisemitism, I want to be very clear when I say that I always stood with the Jewish people and always will. My support for them has not wavered and never will."
- February 1, 2022: Dani Dayan, chairman of Israel's Yad Vashem (World Holocaust Remembrance Center), publicly invited Goldberg to visit the museum in Jerusalem to learn more about the Holocaust's causes, according to the Times of Israel. No report has surfaced that she accepted or traveled there.
- February 14, 2022: Goldberg returned to "The View" after her suspension, thanking those who reached out and pledging to keep having "tough conversations" on the show, per the Times of Israel.
- 2024 to 2025: Goldberg criticized media coverage of U.S. college anti-Israel protests as one-sided, arguing outlets weren't showing the peaceful side and were framing the demonstrations too strictly as "pro-Palestinian" versus "pro-Israeli," according to TVInsider.
- February 25, 2025: During a Hot Topics segment discussing Hamas and the Bibas family, Israeli hostages killed by Hamas, Goldberg asked "who are the bad guys now?" Pressed by her co-hosts, she conceded "Hamas is the bad guy," then pivoted with "But what happened to Russia?" The question prompted immediate pushback from co-hosts Joy Behar and Alyssa Farah Griffin, who told her Hamas attacked Israel first and are "the bad guys," as reported by Yahoo News and HonestReporting.
- October 13, 2025: Reacting to the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release, Goldberg played footage of celebrations and said "we can all pray that it stays that way," while some co-hosts notably did not applaud on air, according to live coverage carried by GB News.
Her Jewish identity and where it intersects with Israel
Whoopi Goldberg is a co-host of ABC's "The View," where Middle East topics come up regularly in the show's Hot Topics segment. She is not Jewish by ancestry; genealogist Henry Louis Gates Jr. traced her heritage entirely to West African roots. But she has long described Judaism as part of her chosen identity and has said she visited Israel decades ago and felt "a real connection" there. Her on-air record since October 7, 2023 shows a consistent pattern: she affirms general solidarity with Jewish people and has decried antisemitism, but she resists framing Hamas unambiguously as "the bad guys" and criticizes what she sees as one-sided media coverage of Gaza-related protests. There is no public record of her joining a boycott of Israel, making an Israel-specific donation, attending a pro-Israel or pro-Palestinian rally, or taking part in any organized advocacy campaign on either side. Her most consequential controversy involving Jewish people and Israel remains the January 2022 Holocaust remarks and her subsequent suspension, not a stance on the current war.
The bottom line
Whoopi Goldberg does not clearly "support Israel" in the advocacy sense: she has not attended pro-Israel events, made Israel-specific donations, or consistently defended Israeli government policy, and she has repeatedly pushed back against unambiguous "Hamas are the bad guys" framing on air. But she has also not embraced the Palestinian cause exclusively or joined any boycott of Israel; she describes an emotional connection to both Israel and Palestine, calls herself Jewish by chosen identity, and has stated plainly that her support for Jewish people "has not wavered." The honest answer is that she is neither a committed Israel supporter nor a Palestine partisan, but someone whose public comments have repeatedly frustrated pro-Israel viewers.
Support Israel directly
Celebrity statements come and go, but where you put your own money is a clear answer of its own. If you want to make your position unmistakable, our Support Israel collection is built for exactly that, including pieces like the I Stand With Israel bracelet, a simple, everyday way to show where you actually stand.
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Last updated July 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
