Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel called for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and stated that Benjamin Netanyahu’s rule must end to achieve lasting peace for Israel.
Emanuel’s comments came Wednesday evening as he was honored by the Simon Wiesenthal Center with its humanitarian award at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The divisions in the war between Israel and Hamas, which began on October 7 after Hamas’ coordinated terrorist attacks, became clear when several dozen attendees booed the ceremony and angrily left as Emanuel spoke. “Stop talking!” a woman shouted as she left the ballroom.
But Emanuel was steadfast in his message to the room full of prominent entertainment industry leaders and major figures from philanthropy and community organizations. Emanuel denounced Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu as a narcissist who seriously endangered Israel’s security with his aggressive policies. He also criticized Netanyahu for not having a plan for managing the Gaza region after the Hamas war was over.
“It is a painful and crucial moment for all of us who are Jews, for all who love Israel,” Emanuel said. The situation calls for “a two-state political solution that delivers peace, security and dignity for all.”
Emanuel did not refer to Netanyahu until about halfway through his 15-minute speech. Then a steady stream of visitors started walking out. At the same time, his speech was interrupted several times by applause from entertainment industry insiders.
“Israel is led by a man who does not want a peaceful solution. He only wants to secure his own power and political survival,” Emanuel said. “He is an agent of chaos, hatred, division and destruction – and enough is enough.”
Emanuel acknowledged the tragedy of civilian casualties and suffering among Palestinians in Gaza. But he placed the blame for the war squarely on Hamas and the coordinated terror attacks it unleashed on October 7, which left more than 1,200 dead and more than 250 hostages kidnapped. According to a May 17 BBC report, 125 hostages are still missing.
“The world is rightly outraged by the deaths of innocent Palestinians in this war,” he said. “There is no contradiction when we say that Israel has the right to fight for the liberation of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas [and] that we must mourn the deaths of Palestinian civilians and try to minimize the number of victims, that we must bring to justice settlers who perpetrate violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, and call for new leadership in Israel that will remove Hamas will eliminate but will also find a political solution for the region.”
Emanuel’s comments echoed comments he made in October at an entertainment industry conference, shortly after the Oct. 7 attacks. But after eight months of war and more than 35,000 deaths in Gaza, he went much further in his criticism of the Israeli leader on Wednesday evening.
“For the good of Israel he must go,” Emanuel said. “So should the extremists in his cabinet, who incite violence in the West Bank and undermine democracy in Israel.
Emanuel described his famous family’s longstanding ties to Israel, which date back to before statehood in 1948. His uncle Emanuel Auerbach was shot dead during a protest in Jerusalem in 1933. The family changed their last name to Emanuel to honor his memory. In 1967, he recalled that as a youngster, “he sat in front of the television with my family, watching the first early morning reports as the Six-Day War began, praying that Israel would survive.” The Emanuels visited Israel that year and went regularly in the summer for six years.
Emanuel’s speech acknowledged the polarizing effect of the cultural conversation surrounding the Israeli-Hamas war in the US and the proliferation of pro-Palestinian encampments on college campuses.
“Where is the outrage over the civilians currently being killed in Sudan, where Human Rights Watch warned earlier this month that an actual genocide could be unfolding? In Ukraine? Where were the protests on campus when the Syrian dictator was slaughtering his own people,” Emanuel said. “According to the UN Human Rights Office, more than 300,00 civilians have been killed there. Where were the protests when the United States attacked ISIS in Mosul, Iraq, killing thousands of civilians?”
Furthermore, Emanuel claimed, Israel has no choice but to fight an adversary like Hamas, which explicitly stated that its ultimate goal is the destruction of the Jewish state.
“Hamas could end this war today. They were able to free the hostages today. We do not know exactly how many are in captivity or alive because Hamas refuses to release even the details,” Emanuel said. “Of course they won’t. Hamas started this war, and they continue to fight it, and so Israel must fight it.”
Emanuel was brutal in his assessment of Netanyahu’s motivations for taking such a tough stance on any form of compromise on Gaza and other Palestinian issues. He accused the Israeli leader of wanting to cling to power to avoid legal troubles, including fraud and corruption charges, that await him once he is no longer in power.
“For two decades he divided Jews in Israel and around the world to stay in power as long as possible. That has been his only goal all along. In terms of his responsibilities to keep the people of the State of Israel and Jews around the world safe, he has clearly failed spectacularly. But he has been very successful in using division to stay in power,” Emanuel said.
“In the years leading up to the barbaric terrorist attacks of October 7, Netanyahu allowed money to be funneled from Qatar to Hamas. “Hundreds of millions of dollars are currently being used to hide the October 7 killers,” he said. “He gave terrorists in Gaza the power to undermine the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the chances for a two-state solution.”
He also accused Netanyahu of destroying “a legacy that does not belong to him” for the Jewish state with his legacy as prime minister. Netanyahu, a war hero, previously served as Israel’s leader from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. In December 2022, he was sworn in for a sixth term.
“As Senator Chuck Schumer recently said, ‘Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah.’ That is what Netanyahu is doing, dragging Israel into the same pariah status that he has rightly earned for himself,” Emanuel said. “Now is the time to recognize that Netanyahu is ruining our reputation and causing incredible and lasting damage to both Israel and the Jewish people around the world.”
Emanuel was introduced at the event by megastar Tyler Perry, who was long represented by Emanuel and Endeavor’s WME. Perry emphasized the significance of the historic alliance between blacks and Jews during the civil rights era and into the early 20th century.
“There would be no NAACP without the Jewish-Black alliance,” Perry said.
Comedian Alex Borstein attended the event.
