Several years ago, I interviewed noted producer Leonard Goldberg for my book on liberalism in television, “Primetime Propaganda.” Goldberg, noting my Jewish surname, asked me why I thought so many Jews in Hollywood didn’t care about Israel. He said he was shocked by the lack of pro-Israel Jews in town.

My answer was simple: most Jews in Hollywood aren’t religious, feel no connection with the Torah, and have no interest in the State of Israel. In fact, they feel that they can gain credibility by bashing the State of Israel, demonstrating that they are world citizens rather than parochial tribalists. Nowhere is that truer than in the Center of Smugness, Hollywood.

No wonder during the consistent rocket attacks on Israel from the terrorist group Hamas, Jewish Hollywood has been absolutely silent. Where’s Barbra Streisand, who assured American Jews that President Obama stood “strongly with our ally Israel and in preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons”? Nowhere to be found. How about vulgarian Sarah Silverman, who has a sister living in Israel? She says nothing about Gaza, but tweets encouragement to wild leftist pacifists Meretz and the Green Movement for Knesset. As for Steven Spielberg, who spent millions of dollars on the anti-Israel tripe by Tony Kushner, “Munich,” he has nothing to say while Israelis are murdered by rockets fired by the world’s leading antisemites.

Worse, none of them have anything to say when fellow Hollywoodniks repeat the worst antisemitic slurs with regard to the State of Israel. This week, double-digit IQ former actress and current co-host of The View Whoopi Goldberg retweeted the myth that “men, women & children in Gaza, Palestine have been getting Massacred for the past week.” That’s a blatant lie, and it’s the same antisemitic lie that Hamas and its Jew-hating sympathizers in the Muslim world parrot each time Israel defends itself. In point of fact, no country takes greater precautions against civilian casualties than Israel, which is why Hamas and the Palestinian Authority routinely place terrorist centers in civilian areas.

So where were the Jews when Whoopi retweeted that? Nowhere to be found. Or busily helping Whoopi argue that all attacks on incompetent liar UN Ambassador Susan Rice were motivated by racism and sexism.

But all three of these Hollywood Jews will, no doubt, claim pride in their Jewish heritage. What makes them proud to be Jewish? Certainly not marriage. Certainly not belief in the Torah. Certainly not Israel. Bagels and lox. Vague notions about “social justice” derived more from Karl Marx than from Jewish principles. The Holocaust.

The Holocaust has taken such a central place in Jewish Hollywood not because Hollywood Jews understand it – to the extent they think about it, they suggest it’s just an outgrowth of religious hatred rather than militant secular fascism – but because the Holocaust allows them to grab hold of the brass ring of victimology. Sure, they aren’t black or gay. But at least they aren’t white, either! They’re members of a people who have been historically victimized!

But that leaves one question: Israel is currently victimized. Antisemitism on a global scale remains a far greater problem than racism. Europe is increasingly antisemitic. The Muslim world makes clear that it would celebrate a second Holocaust. Minority leaders like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have been spewing antisemitic canards for years, cheered on by Hollywood Jews. What gives?

The answer is simple: Hollywood Jews aren’t interested in just being victims. They’re interested in being victims of white Christians. That’s the reason why Steven Spielberg will happily produce Schinder’s List, which depicts Jews at the hands of white Germans, then turns around and produce Munich, which shows Jews being murdered by Arab terrorists, but justifies Arab terrorism. That’s why if you ask most Hollywood Jews, they’ll suggest that the biggest problem for Jews is the American Christian community – the greatest friend the Jewish people have ever had – and that the Muslim community is just misunderstood. Hollywood Jews are more interested in solidarity with other perceived minorities than they are in preserving Jewish lives or a Jewish future.

Goldberg was right. Hollywood Jews have abdicated their Jewish identity, and in the process, they’ve abandoned Israel. They’re shamefully smug, self-righteous empty vessels who claim the mantle of Judaism only so they can glorify themselves.

Ben Shapiro is an attorney and writer and a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, and author of the new book “Primetime Propaganda: The True Hollywood Story of How The Left Took Over Your TV” (Broadside Books, an imprint of HarperCollins). 

This article first appeared in Front Page Magazine (ww.frontpagemagazine.com).