DISTURBED's DAVID DRAIMAN Defends Israel In War Against Hamas: 'No One Wishes For A True Ceasefire More Than Us'

DISTURBED's David Draiman, who is of Jewish descent, recently spoke to Chris Cuomo of NewsNation about the war between Israel and Hamas which erupted four months ago after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Hamas has been keeping the Palestinian people captive in Gaza, has been keeping them hostage in many ways for the greater part of two decades at this point. The Israeli people have been constantly terrorized, constantly living in a state of preparedness for rocket attacks that happen on a near-daily basis and have been happening since before October 7th."

Referencing the fact that Annie Lennox called for a "ceasefire" during her emotional performance at this year's Grammy Awards in early February, Draiman said: "I think that there's no one that actually wishes for a true ceasefire more than us, but we need a ceasefire that Hamas will actually agree to and adhere to. I couldn't agree with Annie Lennox more, when she said what she said at the Grammys. The only problem is she's pointing her finger in the wrong direction.

"We didn't ask for this war," David continued. "We didn't start it. It's not about what happened in 1948 or 1967 or '73 or any other time. It's about simply acknowledging that the state of Israel isn't going anywhere, that it is going to stay there, and we all need to figure out a way to coexist with each other. Now, as long as Hamas is in power, and as long as they continue to hold the Palestinians in Gaza hostage in the way that they have, as long as they continue to steal aid and pilfer every single humanitarian shipment that comes in… They want death. They want martyrdom. It's part of their charter. Part of their charter is the annihilation of not just Israel but every Jew in existence. That's how they were founded. That's what they're founded on. They are a cult of death and hatred. And they knew exactly what they were going to get. They knew that by having such a heinous attack, such a barbaric attack at the Nova music festival, at the kibbutzim that were around the Gaza border, taking as many hostages [as they did], [that this would be the response from Israel]."

Earlier in the month, Draiman spoke to the Embassy Of Israel To The United States about the increase in the number of antisemitic incidents in the U.S. and the rest of the world rose in the four months after the Hamas attack on Israel. He said: "What gives me the strength is not having any other choice. When you back a wild animal against the wall, that's when they're most dangerous. I feel very much backed against the wall. I refuse to capitulate. I refuse to submit. I refuse to be intimidated and I refuse to cower. This is not another Jew with trembling knees. I will never, ever capitulate. I will never give in to terror. I won't give them the satisfaction.

"I see a downward spiral, unfortunately," he continued. "I see increased chaos. I see increased antisemitism on a level that is unprecedented in my lifetime. I see that Jews are not safe anywhere in this world at this point, let alone in Eretz Yisrael [Israel]."

In response to Palestinian militants in Gaza firing a deadly barrage of rockets and sending gunmen into Israeli territory, resulting in the killing of 1,200 Israelis and around 240 being taken hostage, Israel launched strikes on what it called Hamas targets in Gaza. The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) says it has killed over 10,000 operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.

"It's terrifying to see the reaction that I knew would come, that is continuing to amplify the closer we get to capturing the people, the people who are responsible directly for it, for annihilating Hamas and giving the Palestinian people a chance at a real future, I would think, giving all of us a chance at a real future," Draiman added. "We have to free Gaza from Hamas. We have to get our hostages back. We have to reverse decades of programming and indoctrination that UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency] has been complicit in and has been basically just the other hand of Hamas for the better part of two decades at this point. They are part of the problem, certainly not part of the solution. There has to be a better way. There has to be.

"The only way that there will ever be a chance for any real peace of any kind is if the next generation is no longer taught to hate from the day they were born," he continued. "I think that the closer we get to actual victory, hopefully sparing as many innocent lives as possible in the process because nobody wants that.

"Hamas wants innocent lives taken. That's the whole strategy behind this war in the first place," Draiman said. "That's the whole strategy behind the severity and the barbarity of the attack. They wanted to make sure that we came in full force so that they could sustain civilian casualties that they're using as human shields, so that they could be able to play the victim once again on the world stage when they perpetuated the greatest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.

"There's no other way at this point."

In addition to the Hebrew-speaking Draiman, who once trained to be a cantor and contemplated becoming a rabbi, DISTURBED includes guitarist/keyboardist Dan Donegan, bassist John Moyer and drummer Mike Wengren.

Draiman's father and grandfather served in the Israel Defense Forces and both of the singer's maternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors. His grandfather was also a cantor in Israel.

In December 2021, Draiman said that he had lost thousands of social media followers since publicizing his trip to Israel in November of that year.

On November 30, 2021, Draiman lit a candle at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Israel at the Old City site of the terror attack that killed South African immigrant Eli Kay. He later claimed that he lost 4,000 followers after sharing photos of his "demonstration" at the Western Wall.

Draiman has spent much of his recent time on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, sharing pro-Israel content and has often used his fame to speak out against antisemitism.

DISTURBED's song "Never Again", from 2010's "Asylum" album, was written about the Holocaust and calls out people who deny it.

The United States Holocaust Museum has featured Draiman in its "Voices On Anti-Semitism" podcasts.