Simone Biles Weighed in on Transgenders in Women's Sports By Attacking Riley Gaines....
AG Pam Bondi Announces Serious Charges Against Maryland Man Deported to El Salvador
Elon Musk Is Now Worse Than Climate Change, but Good News — CNN...
The Men of D-Day Are Watching Elon and Donald
Infighting is Not Good, But Not Unexpected, Either
SNAP Back: Reforming American Health Will Restore Our Economy
Make Pride Sane Again
Ready Or Not, Humanoid Robots Are Here To Stay
Karine Jean-Pierre Book Launch Shows Why Democrats Are Losing Men
America’s Air Traffic Control System Is Stuck in the 1980s
Trump Admin Shuts Down Controversial TSA 'Quiet Skies' Program Used to Surveil Law-Abiding...
Gov. Hobbs Vetoes Bill Blocking CCP From Buying Land Near U.S. Bases, Sparks...
Blackburn Introduces New Bill to Criminalize Doxxing of Federal Law Enforcement
Paris Rioters Get Slap on the Wrist
Iran Orders Thousands of Tons of Ballistic Missile Materials From China Amid Tense...
Tipsheet

There's Hope For Hollywood: Helen Mirren Voices Support For Israel

On a visit to Israel Wednesday, British actress Helen Mirren expressed her support of the Jewish state and denounced the movement to boycott it.

Mirren is in Jerusalem to award the Genesis Prize, considered the “Jewish Nobel,” to Israeli-American violinist Itzhak Perlman. The prize honors world-renowned artists with a “dedication” to Israel.

Advertisement

Speaking to press Monday, Mirren talked about her disdain for the pro-Palestinian movement to boycott, divest, and sanction all Jewish products and businesses—something many Hollywood stars have embraced wholeheartedly.

“I think that art is an incredibly important way of communication,” she said. “The artists of the country are the people you need to communicate with and make a relationship with and learn from and build upon. So I absolutely don't believe in the boycott, and here I am.”

Mirren has a long history of supporting Israel. She said she visited the country for the first time in 1967 and returned several times. She has played Jewish characters in the movies “The Debt” and “Woman in Gold” as well.

“My connection to Israel and the Jewish people has truly been a part of making me what I am today,” Mirren said. "I am a believer in Israel ... I think this is an extraordinary country filled with very, very extraordinary people.”

Mirren took her belief in Israel to Congress last week, testifying at a Senate hearing in support of a bill sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. The bill would make it easier for art stolen by the Nazis to be returned to Holocaust survivors and their families. Newsweek reported:

“Mirren testified during the hearing about her portrayal of Maria Altmann—a real-life Holocaust survivor who sought her family’s Gustav Klimt painting, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, from the Austrian government—in the 2015 film Woman in Gold.

She continued, ‘Restitution is so much more, much more than that, than reclaiming a material good… It gives Jewish people and other victims of the Nazi terror the opportunity to reclaim their history, their culture, their memories and, most importantly, their families.’”

Advertisement

Mirren’s love of Israel was rewarded on her trip to the country this week. On Monday, the mayor of Jerusalem gave the actress the ‘Jerusalem of Gold Award for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities,’ according to the Times of Israel.

She also toured an archeological site of ancient Jerusalem and met with the British ambassador to Israel to honor the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement