It’s been almost six months since Daniel-Ryan Spaulding last visited Israel.

A lot has changed in the interim – for both Spaulding and the Jewish state. Just a week after the Canadian-born comedian last performed in Tel Aviv, the country experienced the worst terror attack in its history. And the veteran stand-up comic and gay icon became an unlikely face of pro-Israel advocacy and the battle against antisemitism.

“I didn’t really understand that there was such a global brainwashing against Israel, I just actually couldn’t believe how dumb people were, that they didn’t understand that Hamas was a terrorist organization,” he told The Times of Israel in a recent Zoom interview from Berlin.

It was that disbelief that led the non-Jewish Spaulding to post a now-viral video on Instagram just a few days after October 7, expressing dismay at those so-called Western liberals openly cheering the massacre.

“It’s a little ironic that the people who seem to be defending Hamas online are also the ones they’d be most likely to kill,” says Spaulding in the clip posted to social media on October 11. “Oh no, no, no, I’m sure the Islamic terrorists would love you, queer intellectual feminist.”

The video hit a nerve among Israelis and Jews still reeling from the Hamas massacre and shocked by those around the world justifying the onslaught. It has since racked up more than 9 million views and gained Spaulding, 39, a whole new fan base.

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