'Israel' to cut funding for 'Israeli' Oscars after pro-Palestinian film wins top prize
'Israel’s' Culture Minister Miki Zohar said Wednesday the government will withdraw financial support from the Ophir Awards, the country’s premier film awards, following the victory of a film he denounced as “pro-Palestinian.”
The winning film, Hayam, centers on a 12-year-old Palestinian boy living in the occupied West Bank whose dream is to visit Tel Aviv and see the sea for the first time. In addition to winning Best Picture, the production earned five other awards, which means it will represent 'Israel' in the international feature category at next year’s Academy Awards.
“After the pro-Palestinian film Hayam, which discredits our heroic soldiers as they fight to protect us, won the Best Film award at the shameful Ophir 2025 ceremony, I decided to stop funding the ceremony with Israeli citizens’ money,” Zohar announced, noting the funding freeze will take effect starting next year.
The movie, directed by Shai Carmeli-Pollak, also made history when its lead actor, 12-year-old Mohammad Ghazaoui, won Best Actor, the youngest recipient ever in the award’s history.
The awards night carried a political edge, with several attendees dressed in black as a statement against the war in Gaza.
“That this award-winning film portrays our heroic soldiers in a defamatory and false manner as they fight and risk their lives to protect us no longer surprises anyone,” Zohar said. He belongs to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.
The Israeli Academy of Film and Television, which oversees the Ophirs, responded by reaffirming its “commitment to cinematic excellence, artistic freedom and freedom of expression.”
Zohar has previously spoken out against films challenging 'Israeli' policies. In March, he criticized the Oscar win of No Other Land, a documentary co-directed by Palestinian Basel Adra and 'Israeli' filmmaker Yuval Abraham that follows the forced evictions of Palestinians from Masafer Yatta, calling it “a sad moment for the world of cinema.”
