Natalie Portman refuses to go to Israel to receive prize

'Let me speak for myself. 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,' said Portman in a statement after she pulled out on Thursday.

Portman's move made some Israeli politicians angry. The right-wing Likud party member Oren Hazan has said it was 'complete craziness' to select her for the Genesis Prize and that she is 'unworthy of any honor' in Israel.

Born in the Holy Quds (Jerusalem), Portman is threatened that her Israeli citizenship may be rescinded.

The humanitarian move was praised by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

BDS movement works to end international support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law.

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) hailed Portman's move, too.

'After decades of egregious human rights violations against Palestinians, Israel's recent massacre of peaceful protesters in Gaza has made its brand so toxic that even well-known Israeli-American cultural figures, like Natalie Portman, now refuse to blatantly whitewash, or art-wash, Israeli crimes and apartheid policies,' PACBI said in a statement.

PACBI was initiated in 2004 to contribute to the struggle for Palestinian freedom, justice and equality. It advocates for a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions for their deep and persistent complicity in Israel’s denial of Palestinian rights that are stipulated in international law.

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