Israel’s culture minister has threatened to withdraw government funding from the country’s top film awards after a Palestinian-centered story won its highest honor.
The Sea — a film following a 12-year-old Palestinian boy’s journey from the occupied West Bank to see the Mediterranean for the first time — took home Best Film at the Ophir Awards, often called “Israel’s Oscars.”
By rule, the win means The Sea will represent Israel in the International Film category at next year’s Academy Awards.
Culture Minister Miki Zohar condemned the decision on X (formerly Twitter), calling the awards “an embarrassing and detached event.”
> “There is no greater slap in the face of Israeli citizens than this ceremony,” Zohar wrote. “Under my watch, Israeli citizens will not pay from their pockets for a ceremony that spits in the faces of our heroic soldiers.”
Local media report it is still unclear whether Zohar has the authority to defund the awards.
A Historic Win
The film’s 13-year-old star, Muhammad Gazawi, became the youngest actor ever to win Best Actor at the Ophirs. He portrays Khaled, a boy who is blocked at an Israeli checkpoint during a school trip and later sneaks into Israel to reach the sea, while his father — an undocumented laborer — searches for him.
Producer Baher Agbariya dedicated the award to “every child’s right to live in peace — a basic right we will not give up on.”
Cultural Clash
In response to Zohar’s criticism, Assaf Amir, chair of the Israeli Academy of Film and Television, defended the selection, saying the film promotes empathy during a time of crisis:
> “As the never-ending war in Gaza takes a terrible toll, the ability to see the ‘other’ gives small hope.”
He described the win as a “powerful and resounding response” to international calls to boycott Israeli cinema.
The controversy comes amid mounting global criticism of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, which began after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack that killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.
According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, at least 65,000 Palestinians — nearly half of them women and children — have been killed in Israeli attacks since then.
On Tuesday, a UN commission of inquiry accused Israel of committing genocide, a charge Israel has dismissed as “distorted and false.”
