Richard Gere says Jewish West Bank settlements are obstacle to peace

Film actor Richard Gere criticized West Bank settlements in an interview with Haaretz published on Sunday. Gere was in Israel for the premier of his latest film “Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer.”

“Obviously this occupation is destroying everyone,” Gere told Haaretz.

Gere said he believes that Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank is hindering the chances for peace in the region.

“There’s no defense of this occupation. Settlements are such as absurd provocation and, certainly in the international sense, completely illegal – and they are certainly not part of the program of someone who wants a genuine peace process,” Gere told Haaretz.

In the film, Gere plays Norman, a New York Jewish "fixer" who befriends a young charismatic Israeli politician played by Israeli actor Lior Ashkenazi. Norman's character mirrors that of Morris Talansky, one of the key witnesses who testified against former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in a corruption scandal which ended with Olmert's conviction.

Gere, who is friends with Olmert, in an interview with Channel 2, said that the former prime minister's actions could have been excused because he was striving to make a peace deal with the Palestinians and find a solution to the conflict.

“If Olmert had done the peace process, who cares about whatever it was he took — he got the peace process done! And the same with this situation you’re dealing with now,” Gere said.

Gere explained that several of his friends told him not to visit Israel for fear that he would be used by the government to bolster Israel’s image. He explained that he deliberated for an entire month before deciding to come to Israel.

“Just to be clear about this: I denounce violence on all sides of this. And, of course, Israelis should feel secure. But Palestinians should not feel desperate,” he said.

Gere also criticized US President Donald Trump’s controversial pick for ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, who referred to the leftist anti-occupation group J-Street as Kapos.

“It is all so counter to what I know of Jewish culture,” Gere said. “Questioning authority makes you a kapo? To question authority makes you a traitor? If you question bad policies you are a self-hating Jew? That is insane. And, of course it’s the last resort of tyrants.”

In an interview with Chanel 2, Gere said that Israelis should pressure Netanyahu to sit at the negotiating table.

“Demand that he makes peace," Gere asserted. "Demand that he sits down with the Palestinians.”

Gere also said that the waves of acts anti-Semitism sweeping America are directly correlated to the election of President Trump who Gere says used crude language that "opened Pandora’s box” for prejudice and racism.