Jon Voight Admits It's 'Hard' to Talk to 'Naive' Daughter Angelina Jolie About the Israel-Palestine Conflict: 'It's a Bubble'
July 23 2024, Published 11:48 a.m. ET
Jon Voight and his daughter Angelina Jolie have had their fair share of issues over the years, and now they've reconciled, there's one hot topic that is too sensitive to touch upon: the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The actor, 85, is a staunch supporter of Israel, especially after the country responded to Hamas' October 7 attacks. Meanwhile, Jolie, 49, is a refugee activist who has been outspoken about Israel's killing of women and children in Gaza.
“She has been exposed to propaganda,” Voight said during an interview with Variety, which was published on Tuesday, July 23. “She’s been influenced by antisemitic people. Angie has a connection to the U.N., and she’s enjoyed speaking out for refugees. But these people are not refugees.”
“Angie, I think she hasn’t been available to this information because in Hollywood people don’t share this kind of stuff,” he continued of his daughter. “They’re way off. They have no idea what’s going on. It’s a bubble.”
Voight called activists who have embraced the U.N. position that there are more than 5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the West Bank as "naive."
“They’re dupes who never get outside of their bubble," he said, admitting that Jolie is one of those "naive dupes."
“It comes from ignorance, like everything else,” he stated. “It’s like, why are these kids in the universities siding with Hamas, right? It’s because of ignorance. They don’t know the story.”
When asked why he doesn't just pick up the phone and have a conversation with the mom-of-six about this topic, he said, “It’s hard for me to talk to her about this. She doesn’t really want to share this kind of stuff, because she’s of another mind about it.”
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For her part, Jolie spoke out about the ongoing situation in October 2023.
"Like millions around the world I have spent the last weeks sick and angry at the terrorist attack in Israel, the death of so many innocent civilians, and 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," she said in a statement, which received backlash.
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 to seek refuge.”
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People were not thrilled with the star's remarks. "Are you trying to be neutral?" one person asked. "As someone who claimed to work closely with refugees etc, you should know the history better," while another said, "Call it what it is a genocide!! Disappointed but then again expected nothing less from the likes of you!!"