Pro-Palestinian Protester Berates Israeli Entrepreneur — Not Knowing His Target Is a Prominent Peace Activist

A viral video of a keffiyeh-clad activist berating an Israeli technology entrepreneur fails to capture an irony — the beratee, Eyal Waldman, has spent decades building bridges with Palestinians. The attacker, name unknown, is drawing condemnation from Palestinians and Israelis alike who say the confrontation lays bare the contradictions at the heart of the anti-Israel movement.The altercation took place Wednesday at a demonstration in Venice, Italy, protesting Israel’s inclusion in the city’s biennial art and culture exhibition. It was caught on video and posted to X, where it has amassed millions of views. Mr. Waldman is seen in the clip approaching the unnamed activist, shaking his hand, and asking whether he hoped to achieve peace with Israel. The protester, holding a Palestinian flag, responded bluntly: “No. They’re animals,” he said, adding, “I’m from Gaza.”The exchange turned hostile when Mr. Waldman identified himself as Israeli. The protester recoiled, expressed regret for shaking his hand, and unleashed a stream of expletives, calling Mr. Waldman a “murderer” and “killer.” Fellow demonstrators joined in, chanting “Free, free Palestine.”What the protester did not know — and what his reaction suggested he would not have cared to — is that Mr. Waldman is one of the most committed peace advocates in Israeli society. He has used his business success to employ Palestinians and has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to improve their medical care and advocate for a two-state solution. As co-founder and chief executive of the semiconductor firm Mellanox Technologies, Mr. Waldman pursued coexistence through economic cooperation, hiring hundreds of Palestinian engineers and developers from Gaza and the West Bank. When Nvidia acquired Mellanox in 2020, he made sure to arrange for those Palestinian employees to keep their jobs. He has also put money behind the cause — donating $360,000 to an oncology ward at a hospital in Gaza and funding efforts to develop a framework for a two-state solution.His commitment has held even through great personal tragedy. On October 7, 2023, his 24-year-old daughter Danielle and her boyfriend, Noam Shai, were murdered by Hamas at the Nova music festival. Still, his belief in a two-state solution has not wavered. “We need to stop killing each other and find a way to live together. I have been working for two-and-a-half decades trying to make peace,” he said in December 2023.As the video of Mr. Waldman and the protester spread online, pro-Israel voices rushed to Mr. Waldman’s defense. Venture capitalist and political commentator Shaun Maguire called the protester’s rejection of Mr. Waldman a “tragedy.” Israel’s ambassador to Oslo, Eytan Halon, said the demonstrators were not “pro-Palestinian protesters” but “anti-Israel hate mobs.” Channel 12 journalist Haim Etgar described the encounter as a person extending a hand to “brainwashed human beasts on the other side.”Though perhaps the sharpest rebuke came from a Palestinian American peace activist, Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, who issued a lengthy statement praising Mr. Waldman and condemning the protester who accosted him.Mr. Alkhatib, who said Mr. Waldman was among the first Israelis to reach out to him after his own family was killed in Gaza, praised Mr. Waldman for “relentlessly pursuing radically pragmatic initiatives” to provide Israelis and Palestinians alike with “safety, security, self-determination, and freedom.”Addressing the protester, Mr. Alkhatib contended that the “blind hatred by the so-called ‘pro-Palestine’ activists against Eyal here is typical behavior of brownshirt-esque militias who simply hear someone’s identity and react blindly despite his goodwill gesture and outreach.” He further criticized the “‘pro-Palestine’ mafia” for failing to recognize that any effort to secure a Palestinian state requires making inroads with the Israeli government and society.“You don’t have to agree with everything Eyal says or believes to acknowledge that he is a decent, honorable, and a class-A human being, the embodiment of pursuing peace and reconciliation across entrenched narratives and deep personal trauma,” Mr. Alkhatib wrote.

Pro-Palestinian Protester Berates Israeli Entrepreneur — Not Knowing His Target Is a Prominent Peace Activist

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