Arnold Schwarzenegger on Antisemitism, Voting Rights and the Meaning of His Life

Arnold Schwarzenegger waded head on into the war between Israel and Hamas at Town & Country’s annual philanthropy summit on Thursday. The actor and former governor of California, who has emerged in recent years as a proselytizer of peace and positive thinking — in spite of years in the bruising confines of state government and Hollywood — denounced the rise of antisemitism in the weeks since Hamas terrorists stormed into southern Israel from Gaza and massacred 1,400 Israelis.  “We are in a very strange situation,” he said from the dais on the 44th floor of Hearst Tower in Manhattan. “We have a country that was attacked for no reason really. People burned alive, butchered, their heads cut off and all of this kind of stuff.” At the same time, he added, “Palestinians have the right to live and the right to have their own country, their own state.” Ultimately, said Schwarzenegger, the conflict, which has seen Israel’s defense forces bomb large swaths of Gaza City as they seek to root out Hamas militants, is rooted in the “tremendous failure of politicians.” “Life is life,” said the “Terminator” actor. “I think it’s unnecessary.” Schwarzenegger is among Town & Country’s annual philanthropy issue cover subjects, along with

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