DISTURBED's DAVID DRAIMAN On Surprise Attack By Hamas On Israel: 'My Heart Is Broken'

DISTURBED's David Draiman has denounced Hamas's attack on Israel, which killed over 900 Israelis and wounded over 2,400 others.

In response to Palestinian militants in Gaza firing a deadly barrage of rockets and sending gunmen into Israeli territory, Israel launched strikes on what it called Hamas targets in Gaza.

The 50-year-old Draiman, who is of Jewish descent, took to his Instagram today (Tuesday, October 10) to share a video message in which he said: "David Draiman from DISTURBED here. It's taken me a little bit of time to process the events of the past 72 hours. I'm still in a state of shock and grief.

"There's no justification for the barbarity and the inhumanity that was on display over the course of the past few days against Jews in Israel, and there's no justification for the support of the acts, the inhumane acts perpetrated against Jews all over the world.

"My heart is broken." The teary-eyed singer then added, "Am Yisrael Chai," which means "The Jewish nation lives."

On Tuesday, U.S. president Joe Biden called the Hamas assault "an act of sheer evil" and said more than 1,000 civilians were "slaughtered" in Israel, including at least 14 Americans who were killed.

At least 765 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip by Israel's retaliatory airstrikes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

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 spent much of 2014 and early 2015 linking to articles by conservative and pro-Israel blogs and has often used his fame to speak out against anti-Semitism.

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.