The Blogs: Princess Lied: Patinkin’s Israel Fairy Tale

Stage and screen legend Mandy Patinkin’s heart is in the right place, but his recent emotional outburst about Israel and Gaza legitimizes global antisemitism by absolving the perpetrators of responsibility for their heinous actions.

And Mandy’s story about standing next to Netanyahu at an event and perceiving the Ambassador (at that time) to be a threat to Patinkin’s newborn child, for reasons that are never specified, is completely unhinged!

The Jewish Princess Bride star, accompanied by his wife and son, spoke to David Marchese (who is also Jewish) of The New York Times. He and his family members stated multiple times that it is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fault that Jews around the world are being targeted for violence.

“And I ask Jews all over the world to consider what this man, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his right-wing government, is doing to the Jewish people all over the world. They are endangering not only the state of Israel, which I care deeply about and want to exist, but they are endangering the Jewish population all over the world,” said Patinkin.

The Jewish prime minister of Israel is apparently responsible for the spiking hate crimes and violence against Jews in America in a way that Patinkin would NEVER dare insinuate about any other group.

Are African Americans (or African) leaders responsible for hate crimes committed against black people? Obviously not!

The Princess Bride is loosely set in medieval, or Renaissance, Europe. There was antisemitism during that time period, long before Benjamin Netanyahu existed. Antisemitism is one of the world’s oldest hatreds, as evidenced by the Torah and Jewish history.

Playwright and actress Kathryn Grody, Patinkin’s wife, shares his mistaken beliefs. “I feel this is the behavior, the politics of what (Netanyahu’s) doing is the worst thing for Jewish people. It’s like lighting a candle for anybody that has any antisemitic feelings. It’s creating a generation of wounded and hurt kids who will understandably be very angry,” she said.

Again, it’s Netanyahu’s fault that antisemites are targeting Jews around the world in a way that people don’t do against Russians, or Yemenites, or any other ethnic group associated with a country at war.

Here are some things you won’t see or hear Patinkin or his family members say in The Interview clip:

Express any sympathy for Israelis after October 7, Israel’s 9/11.
Name any Israeli terror victims, or hostages. They also don’t call for the return of the hostages in the clip.
Condemn Hamas, or terrorism. Grody says, “compassion for every person in Gaza, you know, is very Jewish.” EVERY person in Gaza? Including the Hamas terrorists who murdered, raped, and pillaged on October 7?

I’m not doubting Patinkin’s intentions or coming at this topic from a very right-wing perspective. This very publication, The Times of Israel, has reported extensively on some of the horrors Palestinian civilians have suffered. I am extremely suspicious about the motivations of the current Israeli government and I think the war should have been ended long ago. I have followed the directive Patinkin gives in his interview:

“And I ask you, Jews everywhere all over the world, to spend some time alone and think is this (the civilian death toll) acceptable and sustainable?”

Personally, I no longer think it is. And we need to make a deal to return the hostages!

But unlike Patinkin, I do not believe that any individual Jewish people can be held responsible for antisemitism perpetrated against the group as a whole. And if I had a platform as big as Patinkin’s, I would be sure to mention Israelis such as Hersh Goldberg-Polin (z’l), Noa Argamani, Kfir Bibas (z’l), and so many others.

The Patinkin’s don’t talk like people who know many Israelis, or come to Israel often.

The Princess Bride could be looked at as both a fairy tale and the deconstruction of a fairy tale. Either way, Patinkin should stop peddling his silly fairy tale that somehow a Jewish leader is responsible for the despicable behavior of violent antisemites thousands of miles away…