Natalie Portman has pulled out of a major award ceremony due to take place in Israel, citing her “distress” at recent events in the country.
Portman, who was born in Jerusalem and holds dual Israeli and US citizenship, was named in November as the recipient of the 2018 Genesis award, a yearly prize for “outstanding achievement by individuals who have attained excellence and international renown in their chosen professional fields [who] embody the character of the Jewish people”.
However, Portman informed the Genesis Prize Foundation she would not travel to Israel for the ceremony, which has been cancelled.
Portman’s representative said: “[R]ecent events in Israel have been extremely distressing to her and she does not feel comfortable participating in any public events in Israel” and that “she cannot in good conscience move forward with the ceremony”.
No specific events were mentioned, but the recent military response to Palestinian demonstrations on the Gaza-Israel border has provoked worldwide condemnation.
The move drew swift condemnation from Israel’s governing Likud party. Knesset member Oren Hazan demanded authorities revoke her citizenship while the culture minister, Miri Regev, referring to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, claimed she had “fallen like ripe fruit into the hands of BDS supporters.”
Portman was effectively joining the ranks of those “relating to the tale of Israel’s success and wonder of rebirth as one of darkness and darkness,” Regev said, a reference to her film adaptation of Israeli writer Amos Oz’s 2002 memoir, A Tale of Love and Darkness.
But Rachel Azaria, a member of the centrist Kulanu party, which is part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition, said Portman’s cancellation should constitute a “warning light” to Israel.
“She’s speaking for many in US Jewry, especially the young generation,” Azaria wrote on Twitter. “Losing them might be too high a price.”
As an Israeli, Portman has largely steered clear of politics, although she has expressed criticism of the current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, saying in 2015 she was “very upset and disappointed that he was re-elected” and found “his racist comments horrific”.
