Hollywood actress of Israeli descent Natalie Portman has come up with another round of criticism against the Israeli government, slamming it for adopting a nation-state law in an interview with Al-Quds newspaper. Portman called the law "racist" and strongly opposed its concept as erroneous.
"This [law] is a mistake and I do not agree with it", she said.
Despite being born in Israel, Portman has repeatedly voiced criticism at some of its policies. She previously condemned the Israeli nation-state law in an interview with BBC Arabic, calling it "wrong and racist".
She also boycotted the Genesis Prize ceremony, an award for Jewish people who have achieved great success in their professions, in 2018. She later explained that she did it in protest against the policies of Benjamin Netanyahu, who gave a speech at the award ceremony. She also rejected rumours about her alleged support for the BDS movement, stating that she is critical of the Israeli leadership, not the entire nation.
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On 19 July, 2018, the Israeli parliament passed a constitutional law declaring Israel a "nation-state", which stipulates that only Jewish people would have the right to self-determination. The controversial law also declares Hebrew as the only official language, stripping Arabic of the same status. Critics of the legislation insist that it turns Arabic population of Israel into second-class citizens.