British Jewish Actress Tracy-Ann Oberman Responds to ‘Downton Abbey’ Star ‘Jew-Baiting’ Her on X About Israel

British Jewish actress Tracy-Ann Oberman took to X/Twitter this week to clap back at fellow actress and Downton Abbey star Samantha Bond after the latter furiously criticized Oberman’s response to the deaths of aid workers in the Gaza Strip in a now-deleted post on the social media platform.

An Israeli airstrike on Monday killed seven people, including three Brits, who were traveling in an aid convoy in the Gaza Strip for the charity World Central Kitchen. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike “unintentionally” killed the aid workers and a full investigation was being conducted. On Friday, the Israeli military released the results of the inquiry, finding that forces mistakenly believed they were attacking Hamas gunmen during the incident. Israel this week has apologized for the misidentification, dismissed two officers, and formally reprimanded senior commanders.

On Tuesday, Bond — who played Miss Moneypenny in four James Bond films — tagged Oberman in a since-deleted post on X and asked the latter, “What is your response to Israel’s action today! A mistake? 7 people dead! Trying to feed the starving? X.” The tweet was posted in response to Oberman’s pinned tweet from January promoting a new adaption of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice in London, in which she stars as a female Shylock.

Replying to Bond’s message, Oberman, who has received death threats for appearing in the The Merchant of Venice, wrote back: “As I am not a spokesperson for the Israeli government why on earth would you send me this tweet? Is it a political purity test? Do you want me to fail it? As a Jew do you hold me and my ‘kind’ collectively responsible? This is a deeply offensive tweet. I’d say this was Jew-baiting chaps.” Oberman also tagged the X accounts of the Community Security Trust and Campaign Against Antisemitism, both Jewish charities, to draw their attention to Bond’s comments.

Then on Wednesday, Bond messaged Oberman again, this time writing a “whole-hearted apology” for her remarks a day earlier. “Like many I am heartbroken and saddened by the ongoing lives lost, both in Israel and Gaza, and the further distressing news yesterday of those aid workers’ lives lost,” she told Oberman. “Again, my apologies.”

“You’ve known me for over 30 years,” Bond added. “You k now [sic] I am not, and never have been, anti-Semitic.”

However, Oberman was unsatisfied with Bond’s handling of the situation. She called out the actress for publicizing the matter on social media as opposed to discussing it with her privately offline.

“Yes, I have known you for over 30 years @SamanthaBond which is why I am deeply shocked that you are STILL doing this on social media and not contacting me directly on my phone number that you have had for 30 years,” Oberman told Bond in a post on X.

“You have my phone number so I hope you do the right thing privately,” she additionally wrote in a separate post. “All our hearts have broken since Oct 7. But virtue signalling by attacking a colleague is never a good look. Put your sadness into something positive — like many of us do — opening dialogue and trying to bridge communities to bring peace & better understanding.”

Oberman concluded by saying thanks for all the support she received online from fellow X users, who were also upset and disappointed by Bond’s remarks. “I have the most incredible followers on here,” she wrote in a post on X. “Thank you. For the support, laughs, love and … well everything x.”