Rabbi Consultant Criticizes Adam Brody Over Gaza Remarks

Adam Brody’s recent comments about Gaza have sparked criticism from Rabbi Steve Leder, a Los Angeles rabbi who worked as a consultant on the first season of Netflix’s Nobody Wants This. Brody, who stars as Rabbi Noah Roklov in the series, drew attention after sharing his views in an interview with GQ.

Asked about Israel and Gaza, Brody said, “Put me down as thinking it’s a genocide. Put me down as wanting a free Palestine. It’s awful that it’s taken so much death and misery, but it does feel like it’s reaching a breaking point that it should have a while ago.” His remarks quickly became a flashpoint, in part because of his high-profile role as a rabbi on a show that introduced many viewers to Jewish traditions and identity.

Leder, who advised the production on its portrayal of Judaism and on Brody’s character, responded by posting a video to Instagram criticizing the actor’s language. Speaking to Fox News Digital, Leder said he felt Brody’s comments were too casual for such a serious subject. “The flippancy was adding insult to injury, in my opinion, and needed to be addressed,” Leder said. “That is a word and that is a geopolitical situation that warrants anything but flippancy.”

Why the criticism centered on one word

Leder’s main objection focused on Brody’s use of the word genocide. He argued that the term has a specific meaning under international standards and said Brody used it inaccurately when describing events in Gaza. Citing the United Nations definition, Leder noted that genocide refers to certain acts committed “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”

From Leder’s perspective, that definition does not apply to Israel’s war against Hamas. He told Fox News Digital, “Israel’s war is against Hamas. It is not against a nationality, it is not against an ethnicity, it is not a race, it is not against a religion.” He added that Israel includes and exists alongside people of many nationalities, ethnicities, races and faiths, and said the country does not target people on those grounds.

Leder also said his concern was not simply that Brody expressed a political view, but that he stated an opinion as though it were established fact. “This is where I felt that Adam Brody went terribly wrong,” Leder said. “He presented an opinion as a fact. And that is a mistake for any of us who are in the public eye.”

The added weight of Brody’s on-screen role

The controversy has been amplified by Brody’s role in Nobody Wants This, where he plays a rabbi who falls in love with an agnostic woman played by Kristen Bell. The series is loosely based on the real-life relationship between creator Erin Foster and her husband, Simon Tikhman. Because the show is closely tied to Jewish representation, Leder said he felt a stronger obligation to respond.

He described the moment as “doubly heartbreaking,” arguing that audiences do not always separate performers from the characters they portray. “Actors are not their roles, and we all understand that, they’re acting,” Leder said. “But in the minds of the public, in the mind of much of the public, it’s sometimes hard to separate those two things.” He added that when someone seen by viewers as an authority presents opinions as facts, it can be especially damaging.

Brody is not the first Jewish celebrity to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide. Leder noted that figures including Hannah Einbinder and Ilana Glazer have also spoken critically about Israel. He said public figures are free to express their views, provided they make clear that those views are opinions. In Brody’s case, Leder said his ties to a series centered on Jewish life made the issue more sensitive. In the Instagram video he posted after the GQ interview, Leder summed up his position bluntly: “If you know nothing about something, you should say nothing.”