Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Friends Divided Over Israel

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wider network have been split on the conflict in Israel and Gaza, in a microcosm of the way the issue has divided wider society.

Hamas killed 1,400 Israelis, mainly civilians, during an October 7 terrorist attack in Southern Israel, the deadliest Palestinian militant assault in the country's history, according to figures provided by the Associated Press.

Israel then launched its heaviest ever airstrikes on Gaza, killing 8,005 Palestinians as of October 29, according to the AP.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made their only public comment on the crisis via a statement on their Archewell Foundation website.

It read: "At The Archewell Foundation, with Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, we stand against all acts of terrorism and brutality.

"We are supporting our partners and organizations on the frontlines in Israel to provide the urgent aid needed, and to help all innocent victims of this unconscionable level of human suffering."

Christopher Bouzy

Bouzy conducted research into online harassment targeting Meghan and was then interviewed on the Netflix show Harry & Meghan.

"Hamas attacked Israel with no clear goal but to kill as many civilians as possible," he said on X, formerly Twitter. "Within hours, social media was flooded with disinformation, and by week three, people were calling the victims the 'real terrorists.' Thank God Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok didn't exist on 9/11."

Gabor Maté

Prince Harry was interviewed by Gabor Maté about his memoir, Spare, in March for a wide ranging conversation about mental health and trauma.

In a recent interview with The Grayzone, Maté—who survived the Holocaust as a young child—said: "What is different about this is that I've never seen anything so publicly committed, such atrocities perpetrated on television and the victims are presented as the perpetrators.

"And either this spectacle, this obscene vicious spectacle, that we're subjected to is either supported or condoned by the major media and all the politicians.

"Now, it's obligatory and I think it's even necessary to say—this is my point of view—is that what happened on October 7th wasn't justifiable, that the killing of civilians, whatever details may yet emerge about intentions or what actually happened, that's not something that should have happened that was something horrible and it was an atrocity."

"But even the need to say that comes out of a culture in which the atrocities of the other side are never called out," he said. "No Israeli spokesman when they talk about their policies is ever asked do you condemn the pogrom at Huwara in the West Bank earlier this year?"
Hundreds of Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian houses, leaving one man dead and hundreds of people injured after rioting in the West Bank town Huwara on February 26 after a Palestinian gunman killed two settlers.
"Do you condemn the killing of Palestinian children by settlers?" Maté continued. "Do you condemn the regular attacks by the settlers? Do you understand the former deputy chief of staff of the Israeli army said that the situation of Palestinians in the West Bank reminds him of the situations of Jews in Germany? Is this even reported in the Western press?"

Jessica Mulroney
Jessica Mulroney, whose father-in-law Brian Mulroney is a former Prime Minister of Canada, was once thought of as Meghan's best friend, though they no longer appear to be close.

She wrote on Instagram on October 10: "As a Jewish woman, I've enjoyed the relative safety of growing up and living in Canada. However, I've felt the spectre of antisemitism around every corner.

"When a gunman shoots up a synagogue, there's always a voice whispering 'They had it coming.' When white supremacists chant 'Jews will not replace us,' those anti Jewish voices grow louder.

"And, two days ago, when Hamas terrorists killed more Jews in a single day than have been killed on any other day since the Holocaust, those voices of hatred reached a fever pitch.

"Tonight in Mel Lastman Square, the Jewish people of Toronto, their leaders, friends and Allies said in one single voice, louder than any voice of hate: WE stand on the right side of history. WE stand for truth, WE stand for justice, WE stand with Israel."

Mandana Dayani

Dayani is the former president of Archewell and was described in the couple's Netflix show Harry & Meghan as a friend of Harry and Meghan.

"So I was born in Iran under the same regime that is supporting Hamas right now," she recently said on Instagram in a post addressing U.S. protesters. "And every single morning, we were forced to chant 'death to America,' 'death to Israel' and its almost shocking to watch these Americans support an organization that wants them dead and hates every single thing about their values.

"And the fact that you're all choosing to support a terrorist organization, and no you absolutely do not get to f****** rebrand Hamas as something other than a terrorist organization… the fact that you're choosing to defend the same people that use suicide bombers and beheading soldiers because somehow you've convinced yourself through all of this propaganda that they're somehow like freedom fighters, that they have no choice is so beyond delusional."

Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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