Mandy Patinkin on Netanyahu, Gaza and Jewish Identity

I didn't know who he was, but he had a very distasteful vibe.

And I took my baby son, and I moved him from my left arm between the stranger and me to my right arm, so my baby would be between Mario Cuomo and me, not between this man.

This man got up to speak, and I remembered that, uh, he was, uh, introduced, uh, as, uh, the ambassador from Israel to the United Nations.

And I remember sitting there because I'd often hear my parents say this phrase on the South Side of Chicago in the Jewish community, "That's good for the Jews," or, "That's bad for the Jews." And in my mind, out loud, I heard, "That's the definition of what's bad for the Jews."

And I didn't know this man. I knew nothing about him.

I just knew he was a threat to my child.

And later, I learned that that man was named Benjamin Netanyahu.

Hmm. Oh. And I loved that I had no idea who he was or what his position meant.

You felt the vibes. I felt it. Then, uh, uh, I don't remember exactly when.

I think I w- I... What age? It was a while ago, 10, 15 years ago.

I was in Philadelphia getting ready to do a concert with Patti, my dear friend Patti LuPone, and I go up to the hotel room.

Catherine was in the hotel room. And, uh, the movie The Princess Bride was on. She was watching it.

And just as I walked in the room is that final scene in the movie where Inigo is sitting by the window with the man, Man in Black, and the Man in Black asks Inigo would he like to be the next Dread Pirate Roberts.

And the Inigo Montoya actor, who was me- I remember, yeah ... uh, at, at, at, at 36 years old, I think, some... It was 1986. Do the math.

I was born in '52. 34. Said these words, said these words which I did not really know what they meant, that William Goldman wrote, which I think are the singular greatest words I've ever read, and those words are, were, and always will be,

"You know, I have been in the revenge business so long.

Now that it's over, I do not know what to do with the rest of my life."

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.

He is the most dangerous thing, not just since October 7th.

It has, it has been a, a, a deeply troubled situation.

And, yeah. And to watch what is happening for the Jewish people, to allow this to happen to children and civilians of all ages in Gaza for whatever reason is unconscionable and unthinkable.

And I ask you Jews everywhere, all over the world, to spend some time alone and think, is this acceptable and sustainable? How could it be done to you and your ancestors, and you turn around and you do it to someone else?