Slandering Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow is either “nasty or simply stupid” and “she needs to be cancelled.” That’s the verdict from France 24, France’s Government-owned authoritative news outlet, after the actress appeared in an ad for a new apartment building in Israel. Social media users have dubbed Paltrow, whose father was Jewish and is a longstanding supporter of the Jewish state, “Gwynocide” for daring to advertise Israeli real estate.

Alana Hadid, sister of the models Bella and Gigi Hadid, denounced her as “tone deaf” and “complicit” in Israel’s supposed crimes. Social media influencer Matt Bernstein declared that Paltrow’s “level of greed and depravity is truly incomprehensible”. Britain’s Guardian newspaper compared Paltrow’s commercial with the Holocaust movie The Zone of Interest, which tells the story of the SS guards living next to a Nazi death camp.

Paltow’s “crime” was to appear in a commercial for 51 Park, a new development of two residential apartment buildings in Herzliya, a suburb of Tel Aviv. In the ad, Paltrow breezily tells a taxi driver to take her to “51 Park.”  When he asks if she’s referring to New York City, Paltrow smiles and explains that she’s going to 51 Park in the city of Herzliya, in Israel.

In today’s poisonous atmosphere of anti-Israel venom, being associated with anything Israeli leads to hate.

Muddled Thinking

Some are accusing Paltrow of “ethnic cleansing.”  Yet Herzliya, where the apartments Paltrow advertised are located, is firmly within Israel’s “green line,” Israel’s pre-1967 borders. It was founded in 1924 on a patch of unoccupied land along Israel’s coast; nobody was displaced to establish the town.

Paltrow’s detractors accuse her of supporting “genocide;” Euro News, an online magazine, justifies this utterly bogus claim by pointing out that the apartments Paltrow advertised are “mere miles away” from Gaza, as if that taints them with malfeasance. The Guardian criticizes the luxury nature of the buildings, pointing out that they “boast a swimming pool, a pilates pool, a wine room and gym, among other luxuries.” The implication is that it’s unseemly and wrong for Israelis to live in nice surroundings.

What Paltrow’s detractors really mean is that Israelis are a pariah people who don’t deserve to live in peace. The implication is chilling: Anyone willing to take a job with Israelis is tainted and taking a huge risk.

Labeling Israel a Pariah State

The hatred being directed at Paltrow comes just as Eurosatory, Europe’s premier annual defense industry convention, gets underway in Paris. Despite Israel being one of the world’s leaders in the defense industry, Israeli delegates are being treated as pariahs.

Israel was barred from setting up a national pavilion or sending government officials to the event. Israel was also singled out as the only country allowed to exhibit defensive weapons only. Despite abiding by all these restrictions, Israeli industry representatives found themselves literally walled off by wooden barriers and unable to advertise their wares.

That discriminatory action followed this year’s Venice Biennale art show, which saw national pavilions close rather than share the event space with Belu-Simion Fainaru, the artist who was representing Israel.

It preceded the Marseille International Film Festival in July, which saw Israeli film director Nadav Lapid withdraw after other directors promised to pull out if he participated. The fact that Lapid is a rabid critic of Israel - he’s declared that he can no longer live in Israel and entered an intensely anti-Israel film he made in the festival - didn’t matter at all. Merely being born in Israel was enough to cancel him.

A major study in June 2026 found that in 36 countries surveyed, a median of 67% people have unfavorable views of Israel. In the United States, 60% of adults reported unfavorable views of Israel. Numbers were higher in Europe: 69% of Britons view Israel negatively; in Sweden, that number is 78%. In Pakistan, 95% of people view Israel unfavorably; in Turkey, a whopping 97% of adults reported having negative views. With Israel’s reputation in freefall, it’s unsurprising that Paltrow is receiving the hate that’s coming her way today.

What We Can Do

Gwyneth Paltrow should be applauded for taking the gamble to appear in the Israeli commercial. Her daring support reminds us that Israel still has many supporters, people who are willing to engage with it as they would with any state, without singling Israel out for special treatment. That should give us all hope.

Let’s support Paltrow by posting positively about her on social media, by defending her in conversation, and by acknowledging her bravery in doing business with Israel. More importantly, let’s rally to express our Jewish pride. With Israel and Jews so under attack, this is the time to live more Jewishly. Don’t let Israel’s haters define who we are.