Reality television star Caitlyn Jenner told the Israeli-American Council (IAC) National Summit on Friday that visiting October 7 sites in Israel brought her back to the images her father showed her as a child from Buchenwald, a comparison she said has shaped her public support for Israel.
“It started when I was about 10 years old,” Jenner said, describing how her father, a World War II veteran, showed her photos from the liberation of the Nazi camp.
“The fifth Ranger Battalion was the first troops to walk into Buchenwald,” she said. “My dad was 22 years old at the time.” Of all his wartime photos, she added, “the only pictures he showed anybody… was the pictures from inside Buchenwald when they walked in.”
“I, as a 10-year-old… I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Jenner said. “And it really greatly affected me.”
Jenner spoke in conversation with Regev Gur, Founder at Narrative Group, who opened by recalling that the two traveled together to Israel months earlier, ahead of Tel Aviv Pride. Gur said they “ended up in the bomb shelter,” and told the audience that people kept asking him afterward how Jenner reacted.
Jenner is a former Olympic gold medalist who won the decathlon at the 1976 Montreal Games, and later became a prominent US television personality and public figure. In recent years she has also been active in political commentary and public advocacy, including vocal statements about Israel.
Jenner is also widely known for her role in the Kardashian-Jenner family’s reality TV franchise, appearing for years on Keeping Up with the Kardashians and related spinoffs after her marriage to Kris Jenner. She is the father of Kendall and Kylie Jenner and became one of the most recognizable celebrity figures in US pop culture long after her 1976 Olympic win.
'The true Israeli experience'
On stage in Florida, Jenner said the Israel trip surprised her in ways she did not anticipate. “I didn’t know it would end up in a safe room… but that’s where I wound up,” she said. “I got the true Israeli experience.”
She then described the moment she said connected her childhood memories to what she saw in Israel.
“We went the site of October 7,” Jenner said. “To go there and see the inhumanity… it really greatly affected me.”
“For me, it was my Holocaust,” she said. “I could see what my father saw back in Buchenwald many, many, many years ago.”
Jenner added that the impact of October 7 also fit into a longer personal timeline. She pointed to the 1972 Munich Olympics, where 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by terrorists, describing the proximity to where she was staying.
“Munich, Germany, we all know what happened there,” she said. “It happened in the building right next to me… We lost 11 Israeli athletes.”
Later in the conversation, she returned to the shelter experience in Israel, describing sirens interrupting a Friday night dinner.
“All of a sudden, sirens start going off,” she said. “Everybody at the table says, ‘Oh, we’ve gotta go to the safe room bunker.’” She recalled someone telling her, “Grab your glass of wine and let’s go down to the bunker.”
A photo of Jenner holding a glass of wine in the shelter circulated widely online, she said. “Somebody got a picture of me with a glass of wine at a bunker, and it went viral.”
She stressed that the moment was misunderstood. “Honestly, it was very serious,” Jenner said. “People die in these things and we’re certainly not down there celebrating.”
“I felt safe,” she said, “but you could hear off in the distance… you could hear bombs going off.”
“That’s your number one concern,” she added. “Loss of life.”
Jenner said the group dealt with repeated alerts over several nights. “I think three nights in a row, four nights, three or four nights in a row, we did it,” she said, describing being woken up and having to move quickly to protected spaces.
With flights disrupted, Jenner said she eventually left via Jordan. “We hopped in a car, went across the Israel-Jordan border,” she said, adding, “No problem whatsoever.”
She also said a travel agent helped other Americans leave as well. “I think we got like 20 people… American citizens… out, because of her,” she said.
Jenner also used the appearance to praise Israel’s openness, describing how people in the US reacted when she told them she was traveling to Tel Aviv for Pride work.
“I’m helping with the marketing for the second largest pride event in the world,” she said. “New York’s number one. Second is Tel Aviv.” She added that she often found herself explaining Israel to skeptical friends: “People don’t realize how open Israel is.”
Near the end, Gur asked for her message to Israelis and Jews amid rising antisemitism since October 7. Jenner urged resilience and focus.
“We have to stay strong. We have to stay focused,” she said. “We have to stay on the side of freedom.”
Gur closed by thanking Jenner for her support and friendship. “My pleasure,” Jenner replied.