'Angelina Jolie does not offer the Israeli people any ability to defend themselves': President Isaac Herzog hits back at the actress after she accused IDF of 'deliberately' killing children in Gaza airstrikes - as her father Jon Voight blasts her 'lies'

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Published on Tuesday, 07 November 2023 09:24

Written by Daily mail

          Israel's president has blasted Angelina Jolie for 'not offering the Israeli people any ability to defend themselves' after the actress strongly condemned the IDF's response to the Hamas terror attacks. Ms Jolie, formerly a special envoy of the UN High Commission for Refugees, accused Israel of 'deliberately bombing children, women, families, deprived of food, medicine and humanitarian aid' in violation of the international law. President Isaac Herzog, in an exclusive interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored today, said he 'totally rejects' Ms Jolie's criticisms of the offensive in Gaza, noting how she's never been to Palestine or Israel. His remarks comes as her father, actor Jon Voight, ripped anti-Israel posts by Ms Jolie branding them 'lies' and saying 'the Israeli army must protect thy soil.' Voight said he was 'disappointed' that his daughter does not understand that Hamas' objective 'is to annihilate the land of the Jews.' Mr Herzog, speaking to Piers Morgan, rejected Ms Jolie's claims, adding: 'I think she's never been in Gaza, she's never been here. She never went to visit and see the facts on the ground,' he said. 'With all the respect, people in Gaza know there is war, but there is no humanitarian crisis that does not enable them to survive. 'On the contrary, there is a safe zone which was agreed by the international community and Israel, in the south part of Gaza, in order to move the citizens to that zone, to take full care of them.' The president noted that there is a 'major dramatic increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza', which he claims has been 'supported dramatically' by Israel, the US, United Nations and others. 'The Gazan people can move there so we can uproot this terror regime. This is what we know. Angelina Jolie does not offer the Israeli people any ability to defend themselves by saying what she is saying,' he stated. Mr Herzog's full interview will air tonight on Piers Morgan Uncensored on TalkTV. His criticism come after the actress's own father tore into Ms Jolie over her remarks. In a video posted on Instagram, Voight, 84, did not hold back in his criticism of his daughter Jolie, saying: 'I am very disappointed that my daughter, like so many, has no understanding of God's honor, God's truths.' 'This is about destroying the history of God's land, the Holy Land, the land of the Jews, This is justice for God's children of the holy land,' Voight continued. 'The Israeli army must protect thy soil, thy people. This is war. It's not going to be what the left thinks, it can't be civil now. 'Israel was attacked by inhuman terror on innocent babies, mothers, fathers, grandparents,' Voight noted. 'You fools call Israel the problem, you should look at yourself and ask who am I? What am I? And ask God if am I learning the truth, or am I being lied to and following everyone else? The ones who understand truth see the lie.' 'These animals want to wipe out Jews, Christians,' he went on. 'They see that the Palestinians have not been neglected of finance. They have been given huge infusions of money, that they didn't share with the people. They made weapons instead, for their rage. 'The people of Israel care for people. They love and cherish. Something these animals don't understand. Justice will prevail.'
          Voight called for Jolie to reassess her opinion on Israel's role in the war: 'Hamas and this deceit of their ruling is destroying their own people,' he added. He also hailed the 'great heroism' of Jewish people in the face of a series of tragedies throughout history, from the Holocaust to the recent 'Hamas Holocaust.' Voight married Jolie's mother, the actress Marcheline Bertrand, in 1971. The pair had two children, James in 1973 and Angelina 1975, but they divorced the following year because of Voight's cheating. Following Bertrand's death to ovarian cancer in 2007, Jolie wrote: 'When my father had an affair, it changed her life. It set her dream of family life ablaze. But she still loved being a mother.' Jolie and Voight were estranged throughout the early 2000s. She even legally changed her name following public comments he made about her mental health and the breakdown of her marriage to Billy Bob Thornton. The pair finally reconciled in 2010 and Voight was able to meet her six children after Brad Pitt helped broker a truce. Voight would tell the Daily Mail: 'That one moment changed my whole life. It gave me back my daughter and my family. Being reunited with my Angie is very precious to me.' But Jolie reportedly severed contact with her father following her divorce from Pitt. A source told Radar Online in May: 'They've lost contact again.' Voight's comments slamming his daughter have so far received more than 80,000 likes and come after Jolie made a series of posts on Instagram in which she condemned Israel for bombing Gaza.Voight is one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation, and he won the Academy Award in 1978 for his Jane Fonda collaboration Coming Home, while he was also nominated three other times. His role in Midnight Cowboy and Deliverance catapulted him to Hollywood fame, is perhaps better known for his connection to right-wing politics in recent years. After renouncing his liberal views of the 1960s and 1970s, he has since become a vocal supporter of the Republican Party. Voight went on to cast doubt on President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election, and had been a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump. In Jolie's own set of postings she has claimed Israel's actions were 'causing desperate new humanitarian needs daily. While addressing the war between Israel and Hamas, the Academy Award winner, 48, revealed 'like millions around the world' over the past few weeks, she has felt 'sick and angry at the terrorist attack in Israel' that caused 'the death of so many innocent civilians.'
          In her latest post, shared with her more than 14.6 Instagram followers, the mother-of-six reveals she has been spending her time 'wondering how best to help.' 'I too am praying for the immediate, safe return of every hostage, and for the families who carry the unimaginable pain of a murder of a loved one. Above all, the children murdered, and the many children now orphaned,' the star wrote. She continued: 'What happened in Israel is an act of terror. But that cannot justify the innocent lives lost in bombing a civilian population in Gaza that has nowhere to go, no access to food or water, no possibility of evacuation, and not even the basic human right to cross a border or seek refuge,' Jolie added. 'Because of my work with refugees for 20 years, my focus is on the people displaced by violence in any context.' In a follow-up posting depicting pictures of demolished buildings, Jolie compared Gaza to an 'open-air prison.' 'This is the deliberate bombing of a trapped population who have nowhere to flee,' she said. 'Whole families are being murdered. While the world watches and with the active support of many governments, millions of Palestinian civilians - children, women, and families - are being collectively punished and dehumanized, all while being deprived of food, medicine, and humanitarian aid against international law.' Jolie said. 'By refusing to demand a humanitarian ceasefire and blocking the UN Security Council from imposing one on both parties. 'World leaders are complicit in these crimes,' she suggested. According to UNHCR's website, she 'carried out more than 60 field missions bearing witness to suffering and resilience and calling for urgent solutions to protect the rights and safety of displaced people.' In December 2022, she 'stepped down from her role as Special Envoy to engage on a broader set of humanitarian and human rights issues.' 'Gaza has a population of over 2 million people (half of them children), who have lived under a severe blockade for nearly two decades, on top of decades of displacement and statelessness,' Jolie pointed out in her posting. 'The few aid trucks that are entering are a fraction of what is needed (and was delivered daily before the present conflict), and the bombings are causing desperate new humanitarian needs daily.'
          Jolie went on to condemn 'the denial of aid, fuel and water' as it 'collectively' punishes all people, including innocent civilians and kids. 'Humanity demands an immediate ceasefire. Palestinian and Israeli lives – and the lives of all people globally – matter equally,' she concluded. 'Anything that can prevent civilian casualties and save lives must be done. Like many others I have donated to medical relief efforts. I have chosen to support the work of Doctors Without Borders and have been closing following their reporting.' Targeting his daughter is not the first time Voight has blasted Hollywood celebrities for their attacks on Israel. In 2014, Voight branded Spanish film stars Penélope Cruz, and Javier Bardem 'ignorant' after they condemned Israel for its military action in the Gaza Strip. He claimed the pair are helping to fan 'the fire of anti-Semitism that is raging all over the world now' after they called for Europe to condemn Israel's then-bombing of the Palestinian territory. The Spanish celebrities speaking out against Israel's actions in Gaza called on the EU to 'condemn the bombing by land, sea and air against the Palestinian civilian population.' 'Palestinians' homes are being destroyed, they are being denied water, electricity, free movement to their hospitals, schools and fields while the international community does nothing,' they said at the time. Over the weekend, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu defied calls for a ceasefire in Gaza by Pope Francis and Middle East leaders, as the IDF rained hell down upon the Gaza Strip as part of its ongoing 'circling' campaign against the enclave. Fires engulfed whole buildings in the Gaza Strip as the IDF carried on its bombardment campaign, as the Israeli PM told IDF troops at the Ramon air force base in southern Israel that war would only stop when Hamas was completely destroyed. 'Our enemies misjudged us. There will be no ceasefire without the return of the hostages,' Netanyahu said. 'This should be completely removed from the lexicon. We say this to our friends and to our enemies. We will simply continue until we defeat them. We have no alternative.' The hardline rhetoric comes as world leaders, including direct neighbors, pleaded with the 74-year-old leader to stop the incessant bombing of the enclave. Pope Francis called for humanitarian aid and help for injured Gazans in order to ease the 'very grave' situation. 'I keep thinking about the grave situation in Palestine and Israel where many people have lost their life. I pray you to stop in the name of god, cease the fire,' the Pope said, speaking to crowds in St Peter's Square after his weekly Angelus prayer on Sunday. 'I hope that all will be done to avoid the conflict from widening, that the injured will be rescued and aid will arrive to the population of Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is very grave,' he added.

source : Daily mail