British comedian and actor John Cleese has canceled his scheduled performances in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, under pressure from anti-Israeli activists, though the “Monty Python” star has also recently used social media to turn on Israel.
The Israeli production company behind the planned performances said that the the cancellation was due to threats from the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel.
“We regret that John Cleese gave in to threats from the BDS organizations and that is after all the tickets for his shows were sold out long ago,” the company said in a statement.
For the last several days, the comedian has been reposting anti-Israel comments and media on his X account, including false claims, and videos of actor Mandy Patinkin raging against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and actor Mark Ruffalo railing against his Jewish friends. Cleese was previously not known to have a stance particularly critical of Israel, and performed there a few years ago.
On Tuesday he reposted a video of Irish President Michael Higgins complaining about how criticism of Israel is considered antisemitism and added, “Many, many Jews criticise Netanyahu, Are they all being antisemitic ?”
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He also reposted another video of an Israel soldier who suffers from PTSD, speaking to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in September about the trauma he has endured from service in Gaza. In the clip, the soldier, Israel Hayat, speaks only of his mental health issues, but a caption from another X user accompanying the clip reads, “I slaughtered countless babies for Israel, and this is the thanks I get?” though Hayat did not say anything like that.
“More information please,” Cleese wrote in his repost.
Many, many Jews criticise Netanyahu
Are they all being antisemitic ? https://t.co/JMkesuPjy5
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) November 11, 2025
Alon York Productions issued a statement noting that all tickets to Cleese’s shows in Israel had been sold out.
Cleese had already postponed his trip to Israel from June to November, following the war with Iran.
He had been scheduled to perform four shows, one in Jerusalem and three in Tel Aviv, from November 26 to December 1.
Cleese’s comedy career began in 1969 when he co-founded the iconic “Monty Python” troupe alongside Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam.
He also created and starred in 1975 in the sitcom “Fawlty Towers,” which achieved cult status among British viewers.
Cleese has lived in Los Angeles since the early 1990s.
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