Natalie Portman may be a very talented and successful American actress, who was actually born in Jerusalem, Israel, but that doesn't make her a good Jew or expert in what's best for the State of Israel.
I haven't a clue as to how the Genesis Prize Foundation committee chooses its winners.
Some people obviously have money to burn and look for headline friendly celebrities of their political ilk to accept a couple of million dollars.
I must admit that I'm not on the same political wavelength as those controlling the Genesis Prize, but at least up to now, as far as I can remember, the recipients have all been polite enough to come to Israel to accept the prize. That is until Natalie Portman. Portman has announced that since she refuses to appear at the same ceremony as Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, she will not attend the ceremony. So far, she hasn't refused to accept the money. She plans on giving it to groups she approves of. And she doesn't consider her behavior as BDS, though it is.
Portman interprets Israeli history and "Jewish values" as a Leftist. She claims that Israel's establishment was a reaction to the Holocaust, which ignores and denies the well-documented history of the Zionist movement long before Nazism. Zionism, Jewish Nationalism, the right for Jews to have a state in the Historic Jewish Homeland, began in the 19th century.
The Genesis Prize committee should withdraw their prize to Portman, but they won't. If you look at the list of recipients, you'll see that their politics is no further to the Right than Natalie Portman's. The only difference is that the other recipients were more gracious and polite and willing to do anything for the money, even appear on the same stage as Bibi Netanyahu.
I haven't a clue as to how the Genesis Prize Foundation committee chooses its winners.
Some people obviously have money to burn and look for headline friendly celebrities of their political ilk to accept a couple of million dollars.
I must admit that I'm not on the same political wavelength as those controlling the Genesis Prize, but at least up to now, as far as I can remember, the recipients have all been polite enough to come to Israel to accept the prize. That is until Natalie Portman. Portman has announced that since she refuses to appear at the same ceremony as Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, she will not attend the ceremony. So far, she hasn't refused to accept the money. She plans on giving it to groups she approves of. And she doesn't consider her behavior as BDS, though it is.
Portman interprets Israeli history and "Jewish values" as a Leftist. She claims that Israel's establishment was a reaction to the Holocaust, which ignores and denies the well-documented history of the Zionist movement long before Nazism. Zionism, Jewish Nationalism, the right for Jews to have a state in the Historic Jewish Homeland, began in the 19th century.
The Genesis Prize committee should withdraw their prize to Portman, but they won't. If you look at the list of recipients, you'll see that their politics is no further to the Right than Natalie Portman's. The only difference is that the other recipients were more gracious and polite and willing to do anything for the money, even appear on the same stage as Bibi Netanyahu.
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