Hannah Einbinder Is the Voice of a Generation That's Decoupling From Israel
It was hardly surprising to see 30-year-old actress Hannah Einbinder include "F-ck ICE" and "Free Palestine" statements in her acceptance speech at the Emmy Awards as she clasped her Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy statue (for her role in "Hacks").
And there was also nothing new or exciting when it came to the first part of her answer at a press conference afterwards, when asked about her statements and why she had signed a pledge, along with thousands of other artists, to boycott Israeli film institutions and festivals.
She said that she "thought it was important to talk about Palestine because it's an issue that's very dear to my heart. I have friends in Gaza who are working as frontline workers, as doctors right now in the north of Gaza, to provide care for pregnant women and for school children to create schools in the refugee camps. And it's an issue that's really close to my heart for many reasons."
But then it got interesting.
Einbinder added that her obligation "as a Jewish person, is to distinguish Jews from the State of Israel, because our religion and our culture is such an important and long-standing institution that is really separate from this sort of ethno-nationalist state."
Both before and after October 7, we are used to seeing prominent American Jewish celebrities go in one of two directions. Some fully identify with and full-throatedly defend the behavior of the Jewish state. Others have used their voice to criticize the Israeli government, feeling that their Jewishness and connection to Israel mean that they should take an active role in influencing Israeli behavior.
Obviously, Einbinder isn't a member of any of those clubs. By making this declaration on Emmy night, Einbinder joined the growing number of Diaspora Jews, in the entertainment industry and beyond, who feel the need to publicly disown the Jewish state.
After months of watching the killing, the destruction and the human suffering in Gaza on the news, Einbinder used her biggest stage yet to loudly and explicitly de-couple her Jewishness from the "ethno-nationalist" state that she presumes attaches itself to her. It wasn't about what can be done to stop genocide, it was personal. Einbinder's speech was about her, and it exposes how much of her actions are about her fear of being negatively perceived as somehow connected to a country currently accused of committing war crimes.
Einbinder is the voice of a generation that has officially come full circle from the feelings of their grandparents and great-grandparents, who experienced a surge of proud Jewish identity in Israel's early years. They connected their Judaism to Israel so inextricably that the young state not only became part and parcel of their religion, but often turned into a full-on substitute for the religion itself.
Today, their descendants - Einbinder and her fellow young American Jews, whose adult relationship with the Jewish state is being forged in the horrors of the Gaza war - no longer see Israel as the proud protector of their faith.
Instead, they want to protect "our religion" from the state they believe is harming it - and, by extension, harming them. It is understandable, but it is also a whole different conversation.
Read more about the war:
■ As Netanyahu drags Israel deeper into Gaza, Trump alone holds the power to stop him
■ Afraid to be accused of cooperating with a transfer, the world leaves Gazans to die
■ 'Stop the genocide, free Palestine': Gaza war takes center stage at 2025 Emmy Awards
■ The face of old Gaza: IDF struck down recognized residential high-rise in Gaza City
■ Israeli settlers set up unauthorized outpost in West Bank, attack residents from nearby villages
■ Spain cancels major arms deal with Elbit in second canceled Israeli contract this week
■ U.K. excludes Israelis from leading defense college over escalating war in Gaza
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