Miriam Margolyes ‘is wounded’ over the friendships she has lost with other Jewish people over her strong pro-Gaza views as she says ‘the abused have become the abusers’

Veteran Jewish actress Miriam Margolyes has revealed she ‘is wounded’ by lost friendships and accusations of betraying her community due to her strong pro-Gaza views.

Having visited both Israel and Gaza – and even previously living on an Israeli communal settlement also known as a kibbutz – Margolyes has made her stance on the conflict abundantly clear.

Open in her critique of the Israeli government, the Harry Potter actress, 83, has called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be jailed, branding him a ‘war criminal’ and a ‘common corrupt politician’.

In April she was also among the 151 Jewish creatives who signed an open letter backing director Jonathan Glazer and his Oscar’s speech where he implied the tragedy of the Holocaust was being ‘hijacked by an occupation’.

But despite her steadfast beliefs, she has been left in ‘agony’ adding how ‘the abused have become the abusers’ comparing Gaza to concentration camps during World War II.

The Harry Potter actress has previously clashed with actress Maureen Lipman (pictured) over opinions on Israel and Gaza

‘All the time, I’m thinking in Gaza, they’ve been told to move and move and move. And they’re being bombed, and nobody’s doing anything,’ she told the Telegraph.

But her strong political opinions, has led to clashes with several friends including Coronation Street actress Maureen Lipman.

‘Jewish people regard me with loathing, as someone who betrayed my nation and aligned myself with the Devil,’ the actress told Saga. 

‘That is also the opinion of my erstwhile friend Dame Maureen Lipman, who is horrified by my attitude.’ 

Margolyes continued: ‘I have no doubt I am right. I am convinced that killing women and children is totally wicked, does not help Israel or anybody. 

‘It’s just vile. How it has been allowed to go on for so long, I don’t know.’

However she confessed Lipman wasn’t the only person who opposed her views on Gaza, with her family also being ‘disgusted’ by a clip she posted denouncing Israel for its response to October 7.

On October 7 Hamas gunmen went across the Israeli border and killed 1,200 people, among the victims were children, the elderly as well as 364 attendees at Nova music festival.

A United Nations report published earlier this year said that ‘sexualised torture’ such as rapes and gang-rapes had been carried out by Hamas thugs amid the atrocities which saw over a thousand people killed and 250 taken hostage.

The comedian also revealed her family were ‘disgusted’ by her video denouncing the Israeli government for their response to Hamas attacks on October 7

Hamas gunmen went across the Israeli border and killed 1,200 on October 7, among the victims were children, the elderly as well as 364 attendees at Nova music festival (pictured: items left scattered around the Supernova Music Festival site)

However this wasn’t the first time Margolyes has spoken out in support of Palestine, with the Call the Midwife star suggesting famed author Charles Dickens would have supported the country. 

‘I am very pro-Palestine, I just want that to be very clear, and so would Dickens be if he was here,’ she quipped.

Despite her opposition to the Israeli government, Margolyes confessed the conflict in the Middle East has opened the door to further anti-Semitism.

‘There is anti-Semitism,’ she told the Telegraph.

‘I don’t think people like Jews, they never have, and what is happening in Israel gives people a wonderful opportunity to be anti-Semitic and to speak against Jews. 

‘And that is why I always wish to say I’m Jewish. And I am absolutely pro-Palestinian.’