On Sept. 8, a group of industry workers vowed not to work with Israeli counterparts they contend are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.” Two days later, the list of co-signatories has ballooned to nearly 4,000 individuals, including Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Lily Gladstone, Tilda Swinton, Ava DuVernay, Yorgos Lanthimos as well as other Oscar, Emmy and Palm d’Or winners.
Israel’s industry leaders believe the boycott effort is misguided and self-defeating — that its effect only undermines and isolates a group of people who are, within the country, among the most sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and perhaps best positioned to give voice to it. “For decades, Israeli creators, artists, and storytellers — myself included — have devoted our work to reflecting the complexity of our reality,” Nadav Ben Simon, chairman of the Israeli screenwriters’ guild, told The Guardian. “In times like these, we as creators must be devoted to amplifying the light, not deepening the darkness.”
The right-wing Israeli government and its allies in and out of the country have consistently rejected assertions by activists, scholars, human rights organizations and international legal bodies that the country is committing genocide and apartheid in the Palestinian territories. (The signatories’ letter justifying its action makes no mention of the Gaza-controlling militant organization Hamas, which prompted Israel’s vengeance after it killed nearly 1,200 of its citizens in October 2023, nor the hostages which Hamas has held since.)
Merav Etrog Bar, of the Directors Guild of Israel, and Lior Elefant, of Israel’s Documentary Forum, noted in a joint statement: “Many of the films and series, both documentary and narrative, produced in Israel have dealt with [the Palestinian crisis] with sensitivity, fairness, and critical thinking; there are thousands of examples of this. While Israeli filmmakers are not their government, we bear responsibility for its actions and find ourselves caught between a rock and a hard place: on one side, attempts at silencing from within, and on the other, international boycott from abroad.”
Tzvi Gottlieb, CEO of the Israeli Film & TV Producers Association, tells The Hollywood Reporter the boycott is “counterproductive,” explaining “there is no group in Israel that’s been working as hard to promote anti-violence and has been as critical of this government. This industry — already small, already vulnerable — shows the damage of occupation. We need to be helped, not hurt.”
None of the high-profile boycott signatories appear to have taken similar public positions against the Russian industry (considering the war against Ukraine) or the Chinese industry (given alleged human rights abuses against China’s Uyghur Muslim population). “Israelis are the easy target,” Gottlieb says.
The boycott is focused on Israeli institutions including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies which may receive government support. Gottlieb notes that in Israel, as in many countries, art critical of the government is often supported by government funding: “Here, we have Kan buying and ordering productions; in Britain, it’s the BBC. The government has yet to tell us what you can’t say.”
Liat Benasuly, an Israeli Film & TV Producers Association board member and a producer of Netflix’s Fauda, about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, finds the boycott tragic and frustrating. “I’m extremely left, and I can’t emphasize how much I’m against this horrible government. My friends and all the artists here are like me. We are trying to change our reality — and [the signatories] are trying to silence our voices, our art, as we try to speak about this complex situation. This just helps this government, who’d prefer we were silent, too. It’s perfect for them.”