“With great power comes great responsibility,” said Uncle Ben in Spider-Man, a line that resonates deeply in today’s world of celebrity influence. Celebrities hold immense power to shape public opinion, inspire change, and drive conversations about justice. While many speak out about human rights and environmental issues, far fewer lend their voice to the cause of animal liberation. And within that smaller circle, even fewer are Jewish or Israeli.

But those who do speak up have something in common. Their journeys are rarely overnight transformations. They’re shaped by personal values, gradual realizations, and powerful turning points, such as reading Eating Animals or watching Gary Yourofsky’s viral speech. These moments opened their eyes to the reality of animal suffering and inspired a lifestyle aligned with compassion, as well as helping them understand that the exploitation of animals is often linked to the exploitation of people and our planet too.

Let’s explore how a handful of influential Jewish and Israeli celebrities are using their platforms to reimagine what it means to live ethically.

Natalie Portman

“I was very moved by the injustice of it and felt compelled to act.”

Best known for her roles in Star Wars and Black Swan, Natalie Portman was born in West Jerusalem and raised in the United States. Her journey toward compassion started early. At just eight years old, she attended a medical conference with her father and witnessed a live laser surgery demonstration on a chicken, with this experience leaving a deep impression on her:

“I think that I was very connected to animals. As soon as I realized that we were killing animals for food, I was very moved by the injustice of it and felt compelled to act. It was one of those defining decisions that has stuck.”

This pivotal moment led her to become vegetarian. Decades later, in 2011, reading Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals inspired her to go fully vegan. The book had such a profound impact that she went on to produce a documentary of the same name, exposing the cruelty of factory farming in the U.S.

Beyond diet, Portman embraces a fully cruelty-free lifestyle, refusing to wear animal-derived materials, and even launching her own line of vegan shoes. She consistently uses her public platform to speak out, whether in YouTube interviews or award show speeches. She also often draws connections between feminism and veganism, once stating:

“Only after I became active in women’s issues did I realize that my veganism was related to those very issues. Dairy and eggs don’t just come from cows and chickens, they come from female cows and female chickens. We’re exploiting female bodies and abusing the magic of female animals to create eggs and milk.”

Mayim Bialik

Photo Credit – PETA

“Animals live. They breathe. They have relationships. They have feelings.”

Mayim Bialik, best known for playing Amy Farrah Fowler on The Big Bang Theory, is a household name. An American-born Jew and neuroscientist with a PhD, Bialik became vegetarian at 19. Her transition to veganism came at age 30 after reading Eating Animals, the same book that deeply influenced Natalie Portman.

Her reasons were multifaceted: ethical concerns, environmental awareness, and improved health. She even experienced relief from chronic sinus issues after eliminating dairy.

Bialik’s veganism is deeply rooted in her Jewish values. She draws a direct line between Jewish ethics and compassionate living, particularly the principle of tza’ar ba’alei chayim, the obligation to prevent animal suffering. In her essay “Yes, There Is a Jewish Connection to My Veganism,” she reflects on how Torah teachings guide her food choices, recognizing the moral, environmental, and humanitarian costs of consuming meat and dairy.

She authored Mayim’s Vegan Table, a cookbook featuring over 100 plant-based recipes, and shares practical, compassionate content on her popular YouTube channel. Her collaborations with PETA include resources for celebrating Jewish holidays, like Passover,  in ways that honor both tradition and animal welfare.

Through her public advocacy, Bialik helps others reimagine the role of animals in our lives, not as commodities, but as sentient beings worthy of compassion and dignity. As she powerfully puts it:

“If we think only of economics as what drives us in food production, we produce economically efficient food. The question is: at what cost? It’s convenient to think of a living, breathing animal as a walking sandwich… but this kind of convenience only works if you turn animals into an abstraction from the safety of your home. But that’s not right because animals aren’t an abstraction. Animals live. They breathe. They have relationships. They have feelings. Millions of animals, right now, spend their lives in a cage with their beaks torn off, living in hostile situations, unable to stand from the weight of the bodies they have been bred into.”

Kat Graham

Photo Credit – Kat Graham.com

“The most important thing that you can do to prevent the kind of suffering you see here is to go vegan today.”

Kat Graham, born in Geneva and raised in the U.S., is of Jewish and Liberian descent. She’s best known for her role as Bonnie Bennett on The Vampire Diaries, but beyond the screen, she’s a powerful voice for animal rights.

Starting as a vegetarian, Graham transitioned to veganism in 2012. Her decision stemmed from a commitment to compassion, health, and justice. She actively works with animal rights groups to #EndSpeciecism; described as “the human-held belief that all other animal species are inferior”, and therefore humans are entitled to use them as they wish. Through her activism, she encourages people to question this assumption and recognize the sentience and worth of all animals.

Graham partnered with PETA on several campaigns, including one exposing the suffering of hens in Canadian egg farms. She spoke candidly about the emotional toll of seeing such cruelty:

“When you see what is happening to these animals, you feel kind of powerless sometimes, like no one really cares. So it’s really exciting that we are going to bring a lot of awareness and make the world a healthier, happier place.”

For Kat, veganism is more than a diet, it’s a commitment to building a more just and compassionate world. As she puts it:

“The most important thing that you can do to prevent the kind of suffering you see here is to go vegan today.”

Alicia Silverstone

Photo Credit – Glenn Francis/PacificProDigital.com

“Once I made that connection, I couldn’t unsee it.”

Alicia Silverstone rose to fame as Cher Horowitz in Clueless, but for over 20 years, she’s been just as outspoken about animal rights as she is stylish. Born to a Jewish family, her compassion for animals began early when she experimented with vegetarianism at age 8.

In her twenties, after seeing footage from factory farms, she made the full shift to veganism. Her deep love for dogs led her to draw connections between animals we adore and those we eat.

“Once I made that connection, I couldn’t unsee it. I realized that all animals deserve compassion, not just the ones we share our homes with.”

Silvesrtone’s activism spans far beyond her personal choices. She has worked closely with organizations like PETA, appearing in multiple high-profile campaigns, including a public stance against the leather industry

“The amount of resources, water, food, oil for transport, the amount of energy that goes into making leather is extraordinary. It’s just not sustainable. The Earth can’t handle it.”

A prolific animal advocate, Silverstone also speaks out about the links between women’s rights and animal rights, highlighting the systemic exploitation of female bodies across both realms. She has been a vocal critic of corporations like Starbucks for up charging customers who choose plant-based milk, calling on companies to remove financial barriers to more compassionate choices.

Through her platform The Kind Life, she shares vegan recipes, eco-conscious lifestyle tips, and supportive guidance for those exploring ethical living.

Carol Leifer

Photo Credit – Harry Langdon

“What we thought was humane 100 years ago is not humane anymore.”

Carol Leifer, a Jewish comedian and writer known for Seinfeld, Saturday Night Live, and Curb Your Enthusiasm, became vegan in her 40s, proof that it’s never too late to change. Her decision came after living with companion animals and realizing that farmed animals deserve the same love and respect.

Leifer often jokes that she “came out three times”: as a lesbian, as a Jew, and as a vegan. And of those, she says, veganism shocked people the most. She’s spoken out about the health benefits of plant-based living, and how making the switch gave her more energy and vitality than she had felt in years.

Her motivation became more serious after seeing videos of kosher slaughterhouses:

“Growing up, it was always, ‘If you buy kosher meat, they’re killed humanely.’ But I’ve seen so many horrible videos. What we thought was humane 100 years ago is not humane anymore. The ways animals suffer, I just couldn’t be a part of it anymore.”

She also brings her values into her Jewish identity, reimagining traditions in compassionate ways, like creating a vegan spin on Hanukkah meals and championing cruelty-free holiday celebrations. Through articles and videos, she offers accessible, humorous takes on how to integrate ethical eating into Jewish life.

Achinoam Nini (Noa)

Photo Credit – Ronen Ackerman

“I’m going slowly, from pescetarian to vegetarian to vegan.”

One of Israel’s most celebrated artists, Achinoam Nini, known globally as Noa, was born in Tel Aviv, raised in New York, and is of Yemenite-Jewish descent. She’s performed on stages around the world and has long been a voice for peace and coexistence.

Her journey toward veganism began after watching a viral speech by activist Gary Yourofsky. In an interview, she described how his words deeply challenged her understanding of animal exploitation and inspired her to make significant changes in her life.

“I was devastated by how blind I had been. I’m going slowly, from pescetarian to vegetarian to vegan.”

Noa speaks of veganism not only as a diet, but as an ethical awakening. She’s expressed how this shift has brought her life more in alignment with her values of empathy, justice, and nonviolence, which are also reflected in her peace activism and music. Whether standing for coexistence between peoples or kindness toward animals, Noa consistently reminds us of our capacity to do better.

Tal Gilboa

Photo Credit – Roee Shpernik, CC BY-SA 4.0

“I think that it’s very important for all the vegans to watch the reality of the animals”

Few figures in Israel’s modern activism landscape have made as much noise or impact as Tal Gilboa. Known to many as the fierce, uncompromising voice of animal rights in Israel, Gilboa’s journey has taken her from reality television fame to the halls of government, all fueled by a singular mission: to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.

Gilboa first caught the public’s attention when she won the Israeli version of Big Brother (HaAh HaGadol) in 2014. But long before that, and ever since, she’s been a tireless and unapologetic advocate for animals. Born in Ra’anana in 1978, Gilboa explains that Gary Yourofsky’s speech also got her to start questioning her eating habits. From that moment on, she committed herself to a new kind of activism that was bold, visible, and unafraid of controversy.

She went on to found Total Liberation, an Israeli grassroots animal rights organization known for its direct-action protests, confrontational messaging, and public campaigns. Gilboa’s style isn’t gentle persuasion. She’s candid about that. In her own words: 

“We can shout and scream, but all we achieve is offending people.” 

Yet she believes provocation can be a necessary tool to shake people out of complacency. Her aim has always been clear: to expose the cruelty inherent in animal agriculture and challenge the normalized violence in our food system. She explains that:

“I think that it’s very important for all the vegans to watch the reality of the animals because you go and focus yourself, because you know why you are doing it.”

Despite criticism, Gilboa’s tenacity has brought real change. In 2019, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed her as his animal rights advisor, marking the first time an Israeli leader formally acknowledged animal welfare at the national policy level. In this role, she pushed for reforms in live animal transport, factory farming, and animal testing, although many of her proposals met institutional resistance. Still, her presence alone in such a position was historic.

Gilboa is also featured in the 2017 documentary One Angry Vegan, which documents her transition from an anonymous activist to the vegan movement leadership. She has spoken on international stages, received accolades for her activism (including recognition from the KAILAASA International Awards), and remains one of the most prominent voices for veganism in Israel.

A Movement in Common

Though they differ in tone, some gentle, others radical, each of these celebrities shares a path marked by gradual transformation, pivotal moments, and a commitment to justice.

From Eating Animals to Gary Yourofsky’s speech, these touchpoints repeatedly appear in their journeys. And whether through Jewish ethics, feminist values, environmental concern, or sheer compassion, they’ve all chosen to align their public influence with a more ethical way of living.

Their stories remind us that change doesn’t always happen overnight. But it always begins with the courage to see clearly, and the integrity to act.