Israeli actress Gal Gadot is facing backlash over reports she is helping to organize a U.S. screening of a film showing the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants.
Israeli actress Gal Gadot attends Tiffany & Co reopening of NYC Flagship store on April 27, 2023. Gadot faces backlash over reports she is helping to screen film provided by the Israel Defense Forces showing… MoreKENA BETANCUR / AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Hamas launched a surprise attack on that day, which was the deadliest Palestinian militant attack on Israel in history. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest-ever airstrikes on Gaza. According to Israeli officials, 1,400 people in Israel have been killed as of Tuesday, the Associated Press reported, while over 10,300 Palestinians have been killed, according to officials from the health ministry in Gaza, the AP said. The Wonder Woman actress has frequently taken to social media to support the people of Israel, amid her native country's conflict with Hamas.
According to i24NEWS, an Israeli-based international news television channel, the actress is making efforts to illuminate the ongoing conflict by helping to organize a screening of a 47-minute video provided by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson.
Oscar-winning director Guy Nattiv, who reportedly spearheaded efforts to bring the film to the United States—with a screening planned for a group of select celebrities and public figures on an undisclosed date, revealed, "Gal Gadot and her husband, Yaron Varsano, helped make this possible."
However, specific details concerning the date and the confirmed guest list are not yet known.
Newsweek has reached out to a representative of Gadot via email for comment.
According to the AP, the IDF previously held a screening of the film for foreign press last month, during which a number of the viewers broke into tears and even walked out of the theater as the video's content is said to be deeply disturbing as it highlights the increased violence of the attack of hundreds of Israeli civilians.
Newsweek has reached out to IDF via email for comment.
Gal Gadot Backlash
Since the reports surfaced naming Gadot's alleged efforts to screen the film, many have taken to X, formerly Twitter, to criticize Gadot citing her lack of addressing the Palestinian death toll along with calling for the actress to be canceled.
"Gal Gadot, the propaganda girl of Israel-sponsored terrorism. She may have played a superhero, but she's nothing more than a propagandist and a genocide enabler," X user, Devlina Ganguly wrote.
Another X user, Remi Kanazi referred to Gadot's previous viral social media video in which she along with other celebrities sang John Lennon's "Imagine" amid the COVID-19 lockdown.
"Gal Gadot went from "Imagine" to "Genocide" pretty quick," Kanazi wrote on X.
Anirudha Vaddadi also wrote on X saying, "I used to think Gal Gadot was a bad actor but in hindsight it's pretty impressive that she's able to convincingly play a character that cares about human rights."
Meanwhile some are defending the actress' efforts to speak on the conflict.
"I honestly didn't think I could love Gal Gadot any more than I do, but watching you f***ing a******* come at her from every antisemitic angle makes me love her more and more. She is the definition of heroic both on screen and off," David Rosenblatt wrote on X.
Another X user, Ze'ev Mishpacha wrote, "Good for Gal Gadot and Guy Nattiv. The antisemites are trying to silence them."
