Matisyahu recently shared his thoughts on the war in Israel in a clip with FACTZ. The artist was approached in the U.S. by the digital media company following the unprecedented attack by Hamas militants in Kfar Aza Kibbutz in southern Israel, which saw a massacre resulting in the deaths of men, women, children, toddlers and the elderly.
In the video, which runs just under nine minutes, Matisyahu spoke about the well-being of his family, what Israel wants, the importance of taking a stance on the issue, America’s role, the nature of the attack and the future of Israel.
After saying his son is safe, the musician spoke somberly about his friends and their children preparing to go to war. “I have a feeling Israel is going to respond in a way that is unprecedented,” Matisyahu said. “No one has seen the force of what Israel can do when they’re unleashed, and I think Israel is about to unleash, and there is going to be a horrible, horrible price to pay with civilians… there are going to be a lot of civilian causalities, and there’s probably going to be a war.”
When asked about what Israel wants, he shared that, “Israel wants to live in peace, if all of Israel’s enemies put their weapons down, there would be peace in the land, and everyone would live, if Israel were to put their weapons down they would be abolished in one day they would be massacred, men women children not just children. Israel has to fight for their existence. They have to fight for their right to exist. Jews have had to fight to exist since the beginning of time, from one century to the next. The Jews in America especially have had it easy, but what is going on in Israel is a pattern of time it happens, sooner or later, sides are taken, and people decide if they’re on the side of Jews or not.”
Next, the interviewer asked Matisyahu about Kylie Jenner’s pro-Israel Instagram post, which purportedly led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers in a matter of days, to which he plainly replied, “This is bigger than your brand.”
“This about women, children being burned in the streets being taken from their homes… that’s not about land,” he said, “that’s a religious war.”
Towards the end of the interview, Matisyahu advised people to take inventory of the reality of the situation: “If you want to have an opinion, study the facts; if you are Jewish, you need to sit down, and you need to think about our history, and you need to think about where we stand right now because the shit is about to hit the fan.”
Watch the full interview here or below.