“Your Silence Is Considered A Stand”: Screenwriters Guild Of Israel Slams WGA For Staying Quiet Over Conflict

The Screenwriters Guild of Israel (SGI) has slammed the WGA for its silence over the conflict raging in the nation.

SGI Chair Nadav Ben Simon is understood to have contacted the guild’s 600-strong member base yesterday with a statement, which has also been posted on X (formerly Twitter).

The statement, which can be read in full below, blasts the WGA for failing to “find in their hearts enough courage to speak out against a terrorist organization that is currently holding 200 hostages, some of them toddlers and babies, snatched from their cribs as their mothers were raped in the same room in front of their eyes.”

“Your silence is considered a stand,” adds the statement. “It is a shame that a professional writers’ guild cannot reach a consensus and find the words to condemn an act of terrorism, an act of unprovoked crime against humanity, against innocent civilians, women, children, the disabled, and the elderly.”

The SGI added that the “silence” is “completely contrasted by the loud support demanded from the SGI and their members just a few weeks ago.”

The issue of the WGA’s response to the brutal Hamas attacks that left some 1,200 civillians dead and around 200 kidnapped has been a hot-button one over the past few days.

While the DGA and SAG-AFTRA have issued separate statements of support, a number of senior showrunners including Eli Roth and Ellen Rapoport expressed disappointment that the WGA had not spoken via an open letter posted on Medium last week. Deadline subsequently revealed that the WGA was meeting members Friday to discuss the issue but a “consensus is out of reach,” according to WGA West boss Meredith Stiehm, who said on Saturday that no comment will be made publicly.

The SGI was one of the major international guilds to throw its weight behind the WGA’s plight in May when scribes first went on strike. According to its website, it has more than 600 members. Israel has long punched above its weight in the international TV and film world, producing shows including Fauda, Tehran and Shtisel.

Euphoria creator Ron Leshem told Deadline that remaining silent over Hamas’ atrocities “buries the truth and promotes more torture and fire,” as he said he has witnessed terrible scenes of “tortured families” over past days.

“I am crying over every Palestinian civilian casualty in Gaza now, and my heart is with my beloved Palestinian friends,” he added. “They too, deserve to be free from Hamas, and to have independence that is not built on fundamentalist terror. To achieve a ceasefire, a bold moral statement, is crucial.”

The conflict has entered its third week and is showing no signs of slowing. The death toll in Gaza is now reported to have topped 5,000 as the U.S. seeks to delay an Israeli ground offensive in the hopes of getting more hostages out and bringing more aid into Gaza.

English follows:
בעוד אנחנו, חברנו וחברותנו מלווים משפחות בלוויות, מחזיקים אצבעות ומתפללים להחזרתם של החטופים והחטופות ולשלומם של כל חיילנו וחיילותינו, בניהם כמובן גם תסריטאים ותסריטאיות אשר נמצאים בחזית המלחמה, בהתנדבות ובעורף האזרחי, נאלצנו גם לכתוב את המכתב המצורף. pic.twitter.com/qL5yJJ7VpP

— Screenwriters Guild of Israel – איגוד התסריטאים (@IgudHatasritaim) October 22, 2023