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Natalie Portman attacks Israel’s Nation State Law in Arabic daily

Actress Portman slammed the Nation-State Law as “racist” and a “mistake” in an interview with an Arab language paper.

By Jack Gold, World Israel News

Actress Natalie Portman chose an Arab language newspaper as a platform from which to criticize Israel’s government and its policies, targeting the recently passed Nation-State Law.

The nation-state law defines Israel as the Jewish state by law and enshrines its unique Jewish character.

After the passage of the law in July, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained the significance, noting that “the State of Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people, with full equal rights for all of its citizens. This is the meaning of the words ‘a Jewish and democratic state.’”

However, Portman, who has previously attacked Netanyahu publicly, slammed the law as “racist” and a “mistake” with which she did not agree, in an interview with London-based al-Quds al-Arabi published Thursday.

“I just hope I can be a part of the change of this thing, and that we can really love our neighbors and work together for our neighbors and with them,” she added to the paper. Portman does not hold permanent residence in Israel.

The Jerusalem-born Portman, who has said she is proud of her Israeli origins, sparked controversy in April when she boycotted an event in Israel in which she was to be given an award. Her excuses for not attending evolved, with her representatives first citing “events in Gaza” and then Portman saying she didn’t “want to appear as endorsing Benjamin Netanyahu.”

News of Portman’s decision to skip the event triggered an angry backlash from the Jewish world.

Netanyahu’s Likud party slammed Portman’s decision as “hypocritical.”

“Natalie Portman talks about democracy, but she supported the V15 organization, which attempted, via foreign funding, to skew Israel’s democratic elections,” the Likud stated. “Portman talks about human rights, but she participates in festivals in countries which censor videos and whose human rights record is far behind that of Israel.”

“No excuse will help – Portman simply refuses to accept the decision of Israel’s citizens,” regarding the election of its leadership, the Likud concluded.