Mark Ruffalo Uses Radical Group to Dodge Antisemitism Claims
A letter defending Mark Ruffalo against antisemitism claims was signed largely by anti-Israel activists rather than mainstream Jewish entertainment figures, according to analysis in the New York Post.
More than 170 individuals identifying as Jewish artists signed a letter dismissing claims that Ruffalo‘s statements regarding the Ellison family and the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger contained antisemitic undertones. Headlines portrayed the document as evidence of widespread Jewish support for the actor.
However, closer examination of the signatory list reveals a starkly different reality. While recognizable names from Hollywood appear among the 177 signatories—including Joel Coen, Tony Kushner, Hannah Einbinder, and Ilana Glazer—fewer than half work in the entertainment industry. The remainder consists largely of anti-Israel academics, political organizers, anti-Zionist activists, and rabbis with longstanding records of opposing the Jewish State.
Deep Ties to Extremist Anti-Zionist Network
Many signatories maintain direct connections to Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), an extremist anti-Zionist organization. Rebecca Vilkomerson served as JVP’s executive director for a decade. Phyllis Bennis has sat on its board, while Rabbi Alissa Wise held senior leadership positions within the group. Rabbis David Mivasair and Linda Holtzman have served on its Rabbinical Council.
Additional signatories include veteran BDS movement advocates and anti-Zionist activists such as Sarah Schulman, Udi Aloni, and Naomi Klein.
This context fundamentally alters how the letter should be interpreted. Rather than representing an organic response from Hollywood’s Jewish community, it appears to be a coordinated mobilization by an established anti-Israel activist network rallying around a celebrity whose rhetoric increasingly aligns with their positions.
JVP’s Extremist Record
JVP describes itself as the world’s largest progressive anti-Zionist Jewish organization. Its actions reveal the nature of that ideology in practice.
On October 7, 2023, even as Israelis were still being massacred, raped, and kidnapped by Hamas terrorists, JVP blamed Israeli policies and American complicity as the source of all violence. Four days later, the organization accused Israel of launching a genocidal war before the Jewish State had even begun major ground operations.
JVP organized protests at Senator Chuck Schumer‘s home and, together with another radical group called IfNotNow, coordinated a demonstration inside the US Capitol that resulted in hundreds of arrests.
During the 2024 campus encampment movement, JVP claimed its student chapters helped organize at least 47 encampments nationwide. The organization celebrated encampments at more than 100 campuses as liberated zones and popular universities for Gaza. Columbia University suspended its JVP and Students for Justice in Palestine chapters in November 2023 for repeated violations of university event policies.
Minority Position Within American Jewry
This radical political ecosystem heavily represented among Ruffalo’s defenders represents a tiny ideological current within American Jewry. A 2025 national survey commissioned by Jewish Federations of North America found that only 7 percent of American Jews identified as anti-Zionist, while 88 percent said Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state.
The overwhelming majority of American Jews support the continued existence of a Jewish state. Yet the Ruffalo letter exploits Jewish identity to make a small ideological minority appear more representative than it actually is.
Substance of Accusations Ignored
The letter barely addresses the actual content of accusations against Ruffalo. Instead, it employs a rhetorical sleight of hand, replacing scrutiny of his words with a broader debate about Israel and Gaza.
The core issue concerns Ruffalo’s specific rhetoric. He connected the Jewish State, Jewish executives, immense wealth, media ownership, profoundly scary technology, and warnings about concentrated power into a single ominous narrative suggesting that machinery being assembled by these people could someday be used against ordinary Americans.
Antisemitic conspiracy theories have historically portrayed Jews as wielding wealth, hidden influence, and control over media or institutions to manipulate society from behind the scenes. Ruffalo’s language may be dressed in contemporary political terms, but the underlying structure of the conspiracy remains painfully familiar.
Ruffalo and many of his defenders may sincerely believe they are standing up for Palestinians. Sincerity, however, does not render false claims true or inflammatory rhetoric harmless. A person can believe he is advocating for Palestinians while simultaneously spreading falsehoods and embracing narratives rooted in classic antisemitic tropes.
With information from New York Post
