POWER, POLITICS AND THE NATALIE PORTMAN RORSCHACH TEST

SETH J. FRANTZMAN

The real story of what happened with Portman is… complex.

Genesis Prize Laureate Natalie Portman. (photo credit: GENESIS PRIZE FOUNDATION)

Natalie Portman almost broke the Internet over the weekend. The Genesis Prize Foundation said last Thursday it was canceling its prize ceremony scheduled for June 28, after a representative of Portman was quoted as saying the actress was not comfortable participating in any public events in Israel and could not “in good conscience” move forward with the ceremony. Portman later wrote on Instagram that she chose “not to attend because I did not want to appear as endorsing Benjamin Netanyahu.” She also distanced herself from “today’s atrocities,” noting they were not “in line with my Jewish values.”

The vague statements have left a lot of people guessing and turned the fiasco into a Rorschach test that is virtually breaking the Internet. On the Right, she has been accused of not accepting a prize from the “people of Israel” and shamed for “boycotting Israel.” Others have pointed out that her decision seems hypocritical. As Israeli writer and strategy consultant Hen Mazzig wrote, “She never boycotted any American award given to her” due to Donald Trump.

The Forward ran an article online with the headline “Natalie Portman speaks loudly for young American Jews with snub of Israel.” Its editor-in-chief, Jane Eisner, wrote that the decision means “something is shifting.”

The real story of what happened with Portman is far more complex. When making the film Tale of Love and Darkness, based on Israeli novelist Amos Oz’s book with the same name, she said the project was her “passion for almost a decade.” In 2015, she spoke passionately about an entire generation in Israel that was trying to “create utopian communities.” At the same time, she was also openly critical of Netanyahu’s reelection in 2015, and said, “I find his racist comments horrific.”

So Portman was a known quantity, a woman with strong views and an intimate interest in Israeli history and the country’s elite cultural scene. She was the first young woman selected to win the Genesis Prize, which in previous years has been awarded to Anish Kapoor, Itzhak Perlman, Michael Douglas and Michael Bloomberg. There is a widespread perception that Israel has an image problem among younger American Jews and that this problem intersects with a feeling that Israel’s values do not represent their liberal-leaning values.

OVER THE  years, a variety of initiatives have sought to address this. How to get young American Jews interested in Israel? Hundreds of thousands have come on Birthright Israel trips. But Google “young US Jews and Israel” and you’ll get headlines about “estrangement” and “hostility” and “turning away.”

A ceremony with Natalie Portman might have symbolized a positive chance to address this issue, with a young woman who could inspire connection to Israel. Now, media interpretations indicate that has spectacularly backfired. The reason that Portman’s decision resonates so strongly online reflects that people in their 20s and 30s – the active social media users – feel this incident reflects something raw and genuine.

For Israel supporters, it results in a backlash. They’ve gone on the attack. For critics of Israel, or its government, this represents catharsis. Finally, their values are at the forefront as a major actress appears to challenge Israel’s government.

It should be a learning experience as well. Portman’s views deserve to be listened to and aired. Was no one listening in 2015 or before? Did no one ask her what she thought? The initial statement by her representative that she wasn’t attending any public events in Israel seemed to be a way out for her from the ceremony. It wasn’t against the government or the ceremony or the prize, just against public events. But that was interpreted as a boycott. Once the controversy had broken, she had to clarify the statement and sought to put the ball in Netanyahu’s court.

The whole incident now symbolizes a larger struggle for power, politics and influence in Israel. There is an unwillingness by some critics and cheerleaders to see nuance on the other side. Which is more important for Israel: public ceremonies affirming the government, or encouraging a positive relationship with the complex realities of Israel and the lived experience of its 8.8 million people?

A healthy relationship with critics in the Diaspora should encourage connections to the larger milieu of Israel. The Portman case shows that Jerusalem cannot take for granted that voices like hers will not seek pushback on Israel’s policies or the demands of its leaders. That means taking seriously the views of those like Portman and respecting that they have something to say. A relationship between Israel and the Diaspora can’t be predicated on clichés and a few days of meetings every year. The Portman Rorschach test teaches us that we need to engage year-round and respect differing views. Then these kinds of surprises or scandals will be less likely.

Trump reportedly asked Netanyahu if he actually cares about peace

ERIC CORTELLESSA

According to Axios, the US president questioned PM’s commitment after planning to approve settlement construction projects

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and US President Donald Trump in the White House Oval Office, March 5, 2018 (Haim Tzach/GPO)

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump reportedly asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year whether he seriously cared about making peace with the Palestinians.

According to Axios, the mercurial American president went off script in a phone call between the two leaders. The report said the call came just after the Israeli press reported that the Israeli premier was planning to approve settlement construction projects to satisfy his right-wing base.

“Trump thought Bibi was unnecessarily angering the Palestinians,” the news site reported, citing three sources familiar with the call. “So, in the course of a longer conversation that was mostly friendly and complimentary, he bluntly asked Bibi whether or not he genuinely wants peace.”
The report did not detail Netanyahu’s response to that question. When asked about the tete-a-tete, the White House indicated that the president could deploy a level of assertion while maintaining strong ties with allied governments.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Axios that Trump “has great relationships with a number of foreign leaders but that doesn’t mean he can’t be aggressive when it comes to negotiating what’s best for America.” She did not respond directly to the contents of the discussion.

Since assuming the presidency, Trump has made forging an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal a major priority. He assembled a diplomatic team, led by his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt, to lead those efforts. That push has taken a downward turn, however, since Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and announced plans to move the US embassy there.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, along with other PA officials, has refused to meet with members of the Trump administration and discredited their capacity to act as honest mediators in any potential peace talks.

In the past, Trump has questioned the sagacity of the settlement enterprise and whether Israel truly wants peace with the Palestinians.

“The settlements are something that very much complicates and always have complicated making peace, so I think Israel has to be very careful with the settlements,” he told the Sheldon Adelson-backed Israeli daily Israel Hayom last year.

He also publicly requested that Netanyahu “hold back on settlements” when the prime minister visited the White House in February 2017.

When it comes to creation, there are no boundaries

Rebecca Stadlen Amir

Ron Arad’s “All and Nothing” exhibition at Gordon Gallery in Tel Aviv. Photo by Rebecca Stadlen Amir

Award-winning Israeli architect and designer Ron Arad does not like to be defined. Between his London-based architecture studio, furniture collaborations with Moroso, prestigious gallery shows at the Pompidou Centre in Paris and the MoMA in New York, it’s become clear that there are no boundaries for Arad when it comes to creation. “It doesn’t help me to define. I do what I’m interested in, what excites me, and hopefully it excites other people. Is it art? Is it design? Who cares?” Arad told ISRAEL21c at a preview of his newest gallery exhibition, “All and Nothing.”

Despite having designed many well-known projects around Israel, including the Design Museum Holon, “All and Nothing” is Arad’s first-ever gallery show in his native country.

The site-specific exhibition is taking place from March 22 to May 5 at Gordon Gallery in South Tel Aviv, an area that has become a growing center for the contemporary Israeli art scene in recent years.

32 mirror polished stainless steel tables arrived in crates from Holland for Ron Arad’s show in Tel Aviv. Photo by Rebecca Stadlen Amir

The exhibition is centered on 32 irregularly shaped, stainless steel tables arranged throughout the gallery space. Some of the mirror-polished tables stand on four legs while others are carefully curved around corners and mounted to the wall, allowing gallery-goers to weave through the space and catch reflections from every angle.

Also of note are the empty spaces between the tables, which Arad says helped inspire the exhibition’s name, “All and Nothing.”

“It has to do with the reflections that reflect the world and the gaps between them – the nothing – that play a part as well,” said Arad. “It’s a name; you give something a name and the name begins to work.”

One wall-mounted table features perforated holes which, when looked at from afar, reveal a hidden message – klum (the Hebrew word for “nothing”).

“All and Nothing,” Table no. 14, 2018, mirror-polished stainless steel and patinated mild steel. Photo courtesy of Gordon Gallery

Arad left Israel for London in 1973 but remained connected to his Israeli roots, frequently flying back and forth for design projects and family visits. Although most of his work was created outside of Israel, Arad says that growing up in Israel influenced his work.

“I grew up here [in Tel Aviv] and that’s where I learned about the world and about art,” Arad told ISRAEL21c. “Also for the last 45 years I have not lived here, so being an outsider has its own quality. It gives you freedom to do what you want. You don’t owe anything to your old neighbors and aunt.”

After training as an architect at the Architectural Association in London, Arad transitioned into industrial design in the early 1980s after stumbling upon a Rover car seat in a local scrapyard and transforming it into the iconic Rover Chair. Since then, Arad has designed bestselling chairs, tables and bookshelves whose commercial success has landed them in homes around the world.

Ron Arad’s Rover Chair, 1981. Photo courtesy of Ron Arad Associates

Arad returned to architecture in 2008, when he established a separate studio, Ron Arad Architects, to focus on a wide range of projects including designing restaurants, residences, hotels and large-scale public projects.

Among the spaces he has designed are the technology floor at Selfridge’s in London, a Yohji Yamamoto boutique in Tokyo and the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC.

The ToHA office towers in Tel Aviv. Photo courtesy of Ron Arad Associates

His most recent architecture project in Tel Aviv, the ToHa office tower, made headlines when it became known as the tallest building in Israel. The office development, located at the junction of Hashalom and Yigal Alon streets, consists of two towers (28 and 64 stories) and is set for completion this year. The angles of the towers’ iceberg shape are intended to maximize solar shading for the occupants and reduce the structure’s carbon footprint.

Another Israel-based project in the works is the Beit Shulamit cancer treatment center at Emek Medical Center in Afula, a regional hospital in the north. The facility will serve a diverse ethnic population including Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Druze communities from a wide spectrum of socioeconomic backgrounds.

“The thing is, even when you do a museum, do you save the world? No, you don’t,” Arad told ISRAEL21c. “There [at Beit Shulamit] it’s a no-brainer that we’re doing a good thing. The building is more to do with how we are improving the patients’ lives, the families, the people that work there; it’s not about what the building looks like as you drive past.”

For more information on Ron Arad’s “All and Nothing” gallery show, click here.

PROCEEDS OF SALES OF ANNE FRANK’S DIARY TO BE DONATED TO NEW ISRAEL FUND

GIL HOFFMAN

The Anne Frank Fonds and the New Israel Fund have teamed up in a new venture.

Anne Frank in 1940, while at 6. Montessorischool, Niersstraat 41-43, Amsterdam. (photo credit: PUBLIC DOMAIN)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to harm the New Israel Fund endured another blow on Wednesday, as the left-wing umbrella group announced a partnership with the Anne Frank Fonds, the foundation founded by her father, Otto Frank, which administers her diary.

Netanyahu instructed coalition chairman David Amsalem last Tuesday to establish a parliamentary committee of inquiry to look into the group’s activities that, he charged, endanger “the security and future of Israel as the national home of the Jewish people.”

Since then, donations to the New Israel Fund have skyrocketed, with NIS 800,000 donated by Israelis and another NIS 200,000 in North America. The deal with the Anne Frank Fonds was signed last month, but purposely announced on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day.

A New Israel Fund spokesman said the charity was aware of Netanyahu’s attack but decided to proceed with the deal anyway.

“Anne Frank is a symbol of humanity, justice, tolerance and acceptance of the other,” the Anne Frank Fonds said in a statement. “These values are the main focus of the work of the New Israel Fund in helping Israel become more democratic and bettering Israeli society.”

The Anne Frank Fonds, which is based in Basel, Switzerland, has donated hundreds of thousands of Swiss francs annually to causes in Israel, in addition to fighting antisemitism and supporting projects around the world like the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund. It was founded by Otto Frank on January 24, 1963.

The sole survivor of the Frank family and thus Anne Frank’s heir, Otto designated the Anne Frank Fonds as his heir. That is why the foundation owns and administers the rights to her diary and all of her writings.

New Israel Fund director-general Mickey Gitzin said cooperating with the Anne Frank Fonds would strengthen his organization’s activities on multiple issues, including the struggle for social justice, advancing coexistence and women’s rights, and the fight against racism.

Netanyahu accused the New Israel Fund on his Facebook page of being a “foreign” organization that receives money from foreign governments and organizations hostile to Israel, such as those funded by US billionaire George Soros.

The principal aim of the New Israel Fund, he wrote, is to “erase the Jewish nature of Israel and turn it into a state of all its citizens – alongside a Palestinian state free of Jews along the 1967 lines, with Jerusalem as its capital.”

What Do You Get When You Cross Oranges and Zionism?

   Government Press Office – לשכת העיתונות הממשלתית