Debra Messing attends Apple TV’s ‘Your Friends & Neighbors Season 2 Premiere at New York Historical, New York, NY, March 30, 2026. Photo: Anthony Behar/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

Jewish American actress Debra Messing feels the “safest” in Israel despite the country’s ongoing war with Iran and its terrorist proxy network, she revealed at an event in Australia over the weekend.

“There was a moment where I was feeling like the United States was no longer safe, especially in New York,” the native New Yorker, 57, said while speaking to Sky News at a Jewish Communal Appeal (JCA) event in Sydney. “When I’m in [Israel], that is home, and regardless of all of the missiles, I feel safest there.”

The “Will & Grace” star also said she feels alienated by the Hollywood community because of her support for Israel after the deadly Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and has lost many friends over her views.

“I feel like my life is everything before Oct. 7 and everything after. I will never be that person again … I really expected the Hollywood community to join me. My entire career I have been a part of this very liberal, inclusive community,” she explained. “And no one stepped forward. I remember being so shocked and of course angry … I felt betrayed and abandoned. I felt maligned, like I was completely alone. And I know that’s not special to me. I lost so many friends, and I know so many Jews who had the same experience.”

Messing admitted that she needed help from a therapist and was battling depression after receiving so much online hate for speaking out against antisemitism on social media. She said being outspoken about her views has been “the hardest thing that I’ve ever experienced in my life.”

“I felt incredibly depressed for a period of time,” she added. “I felt enraged. I really needed help from a therapist to help me talk it out and to figure out why this is happening. What I’ve come to is that this is my purpose right now. It has appeared and this is what I’m meant to do. And that’s what I’ve been focused on since Oct. 7.”

Messing is also very hopeful for the future of the Jewish community.

“As Jews, we need to be louder and prouder because they want to silence us and they want to scare us and they want us to feel shame,” she said. “What gives me hope is that we’re still here after 3,000 years, and we’re here to bring light into the dark, and we are living in a darker time, but we are still showing our light, and we will get through this together.”