The actress Debra Messing had a question: How do you share commentary about the Israel-Hamas conflict online in ways that will best influence others?
She posed the question a few months ago in a room with about 30 other Jewish activists, allies and influencers participating in a one-day workshop held in Los Angeles by the Tel Aviv Institute, a nonprofit that aims to combat antisemitism primarily via social media.
In particular, Ms. Messing wanted to know if a video she had reposted on Instagram, which showed young Palestinian children expressing their hatred for Jews, was constructive.
“That’s very inflammatory,” she said. “Would you say don’t share any of that kind of content?”
The answer came from Hen Mazzig, the workshop’s leader, who has become something of a whisperer to Hollywood stars about how to best use social media platforms to express support for Israel and fight discrimination against Jews.
“No, you should,” Mr. Mazzig, 34, replied. “I think the framing is important. If you were to say, ‘Look at these people — there is no way to peacefully finish the job,’ that is not going to affect anyone. But if you come from a point of view of saying, ‘My heart is broken for these kids, no kid should be raised this way, I want a better future for Palestinian children,’ that would go so much further.”
He paused, then added, “Next time, you will text me, and we will work it out.”
Since Oct. 7 of last year, Hollywood has struggled with how to handle the Middle East conflict. Usually a monolith in its support of progressive causes, the industry has become deeply divided. Influencers and celebrities alike have been sharply criticized for social media posts that have been interpreted as either antisemitic or Islamophobic. Clients have been fired by agents, and agents have parted ways with agencies. Livelihoods have been compromised. Former allies have become enemies.
That is where Mr. Mazzig has stepped in, and seen his influence grow. His follower counts have ballooned. His posts have been shared by celebrities like Pink, Amy Schumer and Gal Gadot. And they’ve been turned into billboards in Times Square.
Mr. Mazzig is a staunch supporter of Israel, and often emphasizes to his followers that he believes both Hamas and Hezbollah are terrorist organizations. Yet he is not afraid to criticize Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Israeli government for its mistakes both before and during the war. And he frequently reiterates his support for Palestinians’ right to self-determination.
On social media, where subtlety is largely absent on the issue of the Israel-Hamas war, Mr. Mazzig represents a more nuanced position reflective of how many Jews feel about the conflict — and he is trying to teach others how to express very complex emotions in a fraught environment.
“My work is about life and death, and about the survival of my people,” Mr. Mazzig said. “It’s just a weird place to be in, realizing that Hollywood and celebrities are able to help me accomplish my goals.”
Mr. Mazzig was born in Israel to two refugees: an Iraqi mother and a Tunisian father. He spent five years in the Israeli military, as a humanitarian officer in the West Bank, intermediating among international organizations, Palestinian civilians and the Israeli Army. He then worked in the United States for Hillel International, a Jewish student group, and StandWithUs, a pro-Israel advocacy group, before returning to Israel and starting his own social media company. He co-founded the Tel Aviv Institute in 2019 as a way to reach younger people who didn’t trust traditional news media and instead found most of their information through influencers.
Mr. Mazzig says his messaging, which reaches his 318,000 Instagram followers and 243,000 X followers and has been reshared millions of times, is about pursuing peace.
“My entire life, I was told to be ashamed of part of my identity: my parents, my gay identity, being progressive, being pro-Israel, being Zionist, being pro-Palestine,” he said. “There were always some people who took issue with me.”
“I think that is what prepared me to deal with this time where a lot of people are very angry, and there’s a lot of hate, and there’s a lot of shame,” he added. “But I know how to be confident in standing up for what’s right without compromising my values.”
Not everything he says and does receives full support among his pro-Israel followers — particularly when he has weighed in on the U.S. presidential race.
On July 22, he voiced support for Vice President Kamala Harris’s views on Israel, reposting her quotes and video commentary, and writing, “I think her empathetic approach to the conflict is one that can change the hearts and minds of people who have been whipped into a frenzy by pro-Hamas rhetoric.” He reiterated her stance on Aug. 22, reposting her convention speech, and again on Sept. 12, when he called the Biden-Harris administration’s support of Israel “ironclad.”
Since then, some former allies have suggested that his support of Ms. Harris’s candidacy is incompatible with his pro-Israel position. One asked if the Harris campaign had been paying him to write the posts. (He said it had not.) Another, Dr. Sheila Nazarian, a plastic surgeon and the host of the Netflix reality show “Skin Decision: Before and After,” has been after him since he endorsed Ms. Harris, asking, “What happened to you, Hen?” He finally blocked her for what he called her “relentless” attacks on him.
“There has been a lot of misinformation about Harris, and I feel like it’s part of my work to correct it,” Mr. Mazzig said, adding that false and misleading claims about her position on Israel stemmed primarily from oversimplifying the issue. He believes that since Ms. Harris both reiterates her support for Israel but also speaks about the humanity of Palestinians, some American Jews are wary of her stance.
“It can’t be one without the other, not if we want lasting peace,” Mr. Mazzig said. “Kamala Harris just articulated this idea, and her opponents are weaponizing it constantly to drive a wedge within the American Jewish community.”
Mr. Mazzig said he thought his appeal to so many high-profile celebrities, though, derived from his kindness-first message.
The actress Emmanuelle Chriqui said she had felt very demoralized after Hamas attacked Israel last fall, especially as her Instagram account, which always had an activist bent to it, dropped by 65,000 followers when she started speaking out about Israel and antisemitism. Then she attended the Tel Aviv Institute’s three-day workshop in Israel in March, an event she called “life changing.” Now whenever she has an interview or is giving a speech — as she did recently when she introduced a humanitarian award as part of the Creative Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy group for the arts and entertainment industry — she checks in with Mr. Mazzig beforehand.
“He’s invaluable, because what we don’t want to do is contribute to the misinformation and propaganda,” she said. “He’s unflappable. He just never loses his sense of humanity. I’m sure he is angry, but it just never clouds his overall intention.”
This year, the actress Selma Blair posted a comment supporting an Instagram post from Abraham Hamra, a Syrian Jewish activist, that had criticized Representatives Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib for voting against a measure that would prevent participants in the Oct. 7 massacre from immigrating to the United States. Many people viewed Ms. Blair’s comments as Islamophobic. She quickly deleted the remark and issued an apology. But the damage was done: Her agents and publicists soon fired her.
“She didn’t have the right words to speak about the pain that she was experiencing as a Jewish woman facing so much antisemitism, and it came out in the wrong way, and I think that it’s really harmed her,” Mr. Mazzig said. He added that many celebrity activists feared that what had happened to Ms. Blair could happen to them.
Mr. Mazzig said he had spoken with Ms. Blair to ensure that she understood how to express her views without offending others if she decided to craft additional messages online. “Of course, they feel this pain, but this pain is leading you to say things or do things that you will regret,” he said. “What I do is work on their statements, making them as bulletproof as possible.”
In a text message, Ms. Blair said, “Hen held my hand through time and space when almost everyone I once knew turned away with hate,” adding, “The backlash is real, but my appreciation for Hen is serious.”
Van Jones, the CNN commentator, said he followed Mr. Mazzig online and understood why so many people in Hollywood had gravitated to him.
“Whether you agree with him or disagree with him, I think he comes across as someone who respects opposing points of view,” Mr. Jones said. He added, “I just think we need some voices that live beyond the obvious binaries.”
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