Editing Gene Simmons (section)

===Views on Israel===
In March 2011, Simmons visited his birth country, Israel. He described the trip as a "life changing experience". He talked about how he still feels that he is an Israeli: "I'm Israeli. I'm a stranger in America. I'm an outsider".<ref>{{cite web |last=Federman |first=Josef |title=AP Interview: Simmons blasts Israel boycotters |url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110322/ap_en_mu/ml_israel_people_gene_simmons |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110326171849/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110322/ap_en_mu/ml_israel_people_gene_simmons |archive-date=March 26, 2011 |publisher=[[Yahoo! News]]}}</ref> While there, Simmons met his half-brother Kobi, and triplet half-sisters Drora, Sharon and Ogenia.<ref>{{cite web |author=Late Night Rocker |date=March 31, 2011 |title=Kiss Mask Webzine: Meet Gene Simmons' Brother and Sisters |url=http://kissmaskwebzine.blogspot.com/2011/03/meet-gene-simmons-brother-and-sisters.html |access-date=August 10, 2011 |publisher=Kissmaskwebzine.blogspot.com}}</ref> He also visited his estranged father's grave.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-06-29 |title=Gene Simmons cries, shares regret at father's grave |url=https://www.today.com/popculture/gene-simmons-cries-shares-regret-fathers-grave-1c9380723 |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=TODAY.com |language=en}}</ref> Simmons announced he has plans to take Kiss to Israel, something that happened first in 2015 with a concert in [[Tel Aviv]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=KISS in Tel Aviv, Israel. Summer 2015 |url=https://www.touristisrael.com/kiss-tel-aviv-israel/14103/}}</ref> He has said that he is an ardent supporter of Israel.<ref>{{cite web |last=Brinn |first=David |date=March 23, 2011 |title=Kiss rocker Gene Simmons back in Israel after 51 years |url=http://www.jpost.com/VideoArticles/Video/Article.aspx?id=213425 |access-date=August 10, 2011 |work=The Jerusalem Post}}</ref> At a press conference in Israel, he spoke in both [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and English.<ref>{{YouTube|FhnTbJNH0Wo|Gene Simmons in Israel / ג'ין סימונס בישראל}}</ref> During his visit to Israel in 2011, he also stated that the artists refusing to perform in Israel for political reasons are "stupid".<ref>{{cite news |date=March 23, 2011 |title=ג'ין סימונס: "היוצרים מחרימי ישראל – טיפשים" |url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4046360,00.html |access-date=March 23, 2011 |agency=[[YNet]]}}</ref>

During the [[2006 Lebanon War]] between [[Israel]] and [[Hezbollah]] in Lebanon, Simmons sent a televised message of support (in both English and Hebrew) to an Israeli soldier seriously wounded in fighting in [[Lebanon]], calling him his "hero".<ref>{{cite news |date=August 26, 2006 |title=Gene Simmons hails Israeli soldier |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/26/AR2006082600502.html |access-date=May 12, 2010 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>

On November 6, 2015, he attended a [[Friends of the Israel Defense Forces]] gala in Beverly Hills, which raised more than $31 million.<ref>{{cite web |date=November 7, 2015 |title=IN PICTURES: Star-studded LA fundraiser rakes in $31 million for IDF |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Star-studded-LA-fundraiser-rakes-in-31-million-for-IDF-432285 |access-date=July 1, 2017 |website=[[Jerusalem Post]]}}</ref>