JERUSALEM: Hollywood actress Natalie Portman said she was backing out of a Jerusalem ceremony where she was to receive a $2 million prize to protest against the policies of Israel’s prime minister.

“I chose not to attend because I did not want to appear as endorsing Benjamin Netanyahu, who was to be giving a speech at the ceremony,” Portman said in a statement posted on Instagram on Saturday.

The Genesis Prize Foundation said that Portman had cancelled her participation in a Jerusalem ceremony slated for the end of June.

One of Portman’s representatives informed the foundation that she was troubled by “recent events” in Israel and “does not feel comfortable participating in any public event in Israel”, the foundation said. The foundation did not say which events distressed Portman.

Portman said her decision to stay away from the award ceremony had been “mischaracterised”, insisting that she wanted to set the record straight and “speak for myself”.

Portman did not go into details, but her decision came amid a series of controversies for Netanyahu and his government.

The army has come under scrutiny over its use of live fire over the past three weeks during protests and clashes along the blockaded Gaza Strip’s border with the Jewish state.

In a fourth straight Friday of mass demonstrations, four Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli forces, bringing the total death toll since March 30 to 38.

The Genesis prize, launched in 2013, is awarded to “extraordinary individuals who serve as an inspiration to the next generation of Jews”, according to foundation’s website.

Born in Jerusalem to a doctor father and an artist mother, 36-year-old Portman won a best actress Oscar for 2010’s psychological ballet thriller Black Swan.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2018