Israel cuts film awards funding after Palestinian story wins top prize
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Jerusalem: Israel’s culture minister has cut funding for the country’s most prestigious film awards ceremony, accusing this year’s best feature winner of “spitting” on Israeli soldiers.
Miki Zohar, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, said the move was in response to Tuesday’s Ophir Award victory for The Sea, a film about a 12-year-old Palestinian boy who sneaks into Israel from the occupied West Bank to see the sea for the first time.
The film, which tells a pro-Palestinian story and depicts Israeli soldiers, will now serve as Israel’s nominee for the Oscars.
In a statement on X, Zohar said he was halting funding for the ceremony, citing what he described as the film’s bias and disrespect toward Israeli troops. “On my watch, the citizens of Israel will not pay out of their pockets for a disgraceful ceremony that spits on the heroic Israeli soldiers,” he said. “The citizens of Israel deserve for their tax money to go to more important and valuable places.”
Another film, No Other Land, a collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers, won this year’s Oscar for best documentary. The documentary highlighted Palestinian activists’ efforts to prevent the Israeli military from demolishing their community in the West Bank.
With PTI inputs