İsraeli-born American actress Natalie Portman’s decision to not come to Israel to accept the $2 million Genesis Prize “borders on ish antisemitism,” Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, who is close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Israel Radio on Sunday morning, The Jerusalem Post reports.
Portman wrote on Friday that she chose not to attend because she did not want to appear as endorsing Netanyahu, who was to be giving a speech at the ceremony in June.
“She borders on antisemitism in how she relates to Israel,” Steinitz (Likud) said. “I blame her for cooperating with haters of Israel and antisemites. Criticism of Israel is not automatically antisemitic, but boycotting Israel has elements of antisemitism because other countries that are criticized are not boycotted so easily.”
Steinitz, who will be speaking at the Jerusalem Post Conference in New York next Sunday, said Portman owes the State of Israel and the people of Israel an apology.