Natalie Portman
Shares ‘Leftist’ Thoughts on Israel: ‘I’m Very Much Against Netanyahu’
by Kelli Serio 7 May 2015 Los Angeles, CA
Oscar-winning actress Natalie
Portman shared some strong opinions about newly re-elected Israeli prime
minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as her
thoughts on anti-Semitism and racism.
During a wide-ranging interview with The Hollywood Reporter,
the 33-year-old Oscar winner first sounded off on Israeli politics.
“I’m very much against Netanyahu. Against. I am very, very
upset and disappointed that he was re-elected. I find his racist comments
horrific,” she explained. “However, I don’t — what I want to make sure is, I don’t
want to use my platform [the wrong way]. I feel like there’s some people who
become prominent, and then it’s out in the foreign press. You know, shit on Israel.
I do not. I don’t want to do that.”
Portman, who was born in Israel, was then asked to weigh in
on Relativity CEO Ryan Kavanaugh, who included her name and email address in a
chain of hacked emails regarding the Gaza conflict about “Jews being
slaughtered for their beliefs”.
“I was very unhappy to be included in those emails, and I
told [Kavanaugh] so. I wrote to him that I didn’t want to be part of that
group. I didn’t want to be receiving those emails at all. I find them very
disturbing,” she said.
As far as Dior fashion designer John Galliano, who lost his
position with the company after an anti-Semitic rant at a Parisian cafe in
2011, the actress believes everyone deserves a second chance.
“I don’t see why not to be forgiving to someone who is, I
mean, someone who’s trying to change,” said Portman. “However, I don’t think
those comments are ever OK. I don’t forgive the comments, but … we’ve all done
things that we regret.”
The actress-turned writer-producer will make her directorial
debut this month at Cannes Film Festival.
She previously bought the rights to Amos Oz’s memoir A Tale of Love and
Darkness, about growing up and becoming a writer in the early years of
Israel, which she was adamant about shooting in Hebrew.
The film was shot in Jerusalem in February 2014.
Stephen Galloway of The Hollywood Reporter pointed
out that Portman has embraced her “Jewishness” and asked her if she feels
nervous about living in Paris, a country in which anti-Semitism is on the rise.
“Yes, she said. “But I’d feel nervous about being a black
man in this country. I’d feel nervous about being a Muslim in many places.”
It was unclear whether Portman meant she feared to be a
“black man” in her home country of France or in the United States. The
interview took place in Los Angeles.
Portman described herself as “quite leftist” in relation to
Israeli society, but said she feels like a capitalist in Paris as there is a
“socialist difference in a major way. Like, the strike thing is a real
phenomenon. You think it’s just a stereotype, but it’s totally the case there.
It’s really about like ‘giving it to the man.’ ”
When it comes to the Oscar she received in 2011 for her
starring role in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, Portman says she doesn’t know
where she keeps it and admits she doesn’t believe in worshipping false idols.
“I was reading the story of Abraham to my child and talking
about, like, not worshipping false idols. And this is literally like gold men.
This is literally worshipping gold idols — if you worship it. That’s why it’s
not displayed on the wall. It’s a false idol.”
Israel
Sidley Austin
LLP is the lobby firm for Israel.
Note: Michelle Obama
was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack
Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin
LLP.
R.
Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Newton
N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Cyrus F.
Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think
tank), and the Millennium Promise.
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Saban
Center for Middle East Policy is a policy center at the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
Haim
Saban is a benefactor for the Saban Center
for Middle East Policy, a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a friend of Shimon Peres.
Shimon
Peres is a friend of Haim Saban,
and the president of Israel.
Benjamin
Netanyahu is the prime minister of Israel.
Daniel B. Shapiro
is the U.S. ambassador for Israel,
and was Senator Dianne Feinstein’s
legislative assistant.
Dianne
Feinstein’s legislative assistant was Daniel
B. Shapiro, is a U.S. Senate
senator, married to Richard C. Blum.
Richard
C. Blum is married to Senator Dianne
Feinstein, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think
tank).
Thomas R.
Pickering is a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution (think
tank), and was a U.S. ambassador for Israel.
Alan
R. Batkin is a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and
a director at the Millennium Promise.
Angelina
Jolie was a director at the Millennium
Promise, and a resident at The
Ansonia.
Natalie Portman
was a resident at The Ansonia, and
is an actor in the Black Swan (2010).
William
Earle Dodge Stokes was the developer for The Ansonia, and the heir to the Phelps Dodge Corporation.
Marie
L. Knowles was a director at the Phelps
Dodge Corporation, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank).
Saban
Center for Middle East Policy is a policy center at the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
Haim
Saban is a benefactor for the Saban Center
for Middle East Policy, a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a friend of Shimon Peres.
Shimon
Peres is a friend of Haim Saban,
and the president of Israel.
Benjamin
Netanyahu is the prime minister of Israel.
Sidley Austin
LLP is the lobby firm for Israel.
Barack
Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin
LLP.
R.
Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Newton
N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Cyrus F.
Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think
tank), and the Millennium Promise.
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Jimmy
Carter was an honorary co-chairman for the Millennium Promise, and the president for the Jimmy Carter administration.
Jimmy Carter and Israel: 5 Times President Made News Over
Views
Tuesday, 21 Oct 2014 05:22 PM
By Ken Mandel
During Jimmy Carter's presidency,
he had notable successes and failures. The historic 1978 peace treaty he
brokered between Israel and Egypt remains one of his highlights.
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