JEEUSALEM – Natalie Portman will not travel to Israel to accept an awardshe was scheduled to receive in June, saying she “cannot in good consciencemove forward with the ceremony.”
“Recent events in Israel have been extremely distressing to her and shedoes not feel comfortable participating in any public events in Israel,” arepresentative for the “Annihilation” star told the Genesis PrizeFoundation, which presents the award.
As a result, the June 28 ceremony in Jerusalem will be canceled entirely,the foundation said in a statement on Thursday.
“We are very saddened that she has decided not to attend the Genesis PrizeCeremony in Jerusalem for political reasons,” the statement said. “We fearthat Ms. Portman’s decision will cause our philanthropic initiative to bepoliticized, something we have worked hard for the past five years toavoid.”
Portman, who was born in Israel and has duel Israeli and Americancitizenship, did not specify which “recent events” were the catalyst forher decision, though she is not the first performer to cancel publicappearances in Israel due to protests over the country’s ongoing conflictwith Palestinians.
Last November, Portman was selected to receive the 2018 Genesis Prize,dubbed the “Jewish Nobel,” for her demonstration of “outstandingprofessional achievement and commitment to the Jewish people and Jewishvalues, such as social justice, tolerance and charity.” At the time, shecommitted to “re-gift” the $1 million in prize money to charities focusedon advancing women’s equality.
“The mission of the Genesis Prize is to create a space where we can castpolitics aside and come together to appreciate Jewish accomplishments thatcontinue to contribute so much to human civilization; to contemplate Jewishidentity and values and what they mean in the 21st century; to strengthenthe bond between the State of Israel and the Jewish Diaspora; and tocelebrate pride in being Jewish, and – especially in this 70th anniversaryyear – in the State of Israel,” the Genesis Prize Foundation statementcontinued. “We are disappointed that this year we will not be able tofulfill this mission in full.” – Agencies