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Israel's top arts official has threatened to eliminate funding for the national cinema honors after A Palestinian Tale, a story about a 12-year-old Arab boy, received its highest honor.

This production, which chronicles a boy from the occupied Palestinian territories who wants to travel to Tel Aviv to see the ocean for the very first occasion, was awarded top cinematic prize at the Israeli Oscars.

“No deeper slap in the face of the people of Israel than the shameful and out-of-touch yearly film ceremony ceremony.”

By taking the prize of the best film category at the Ophir awards, The Sea is now Israel's submission to the global cinema category at the upcoming Academy Awards.

Uncertainty Over Funding Threat

Remains uncertain whether the minister has the authority to cut support for the awards, as reported by domestic news outlets.

Stars of The Sea also received other key awards at the event, including teenage the young actor who won the best actor honor—making him the most youthful winner.

Film Synopsis

In the film, the actor plays 12-year-old the protagonist who is denied entry to Israel at an Israel Defense Forces checkpoint during a class trip to Tel Aviv.

Khaled then sneaks into Israel and attempts to arrive at the sea while his father, an undocumented labourer in Israel, attempts to locate him.

“The production is about the universal right to exist peacefully, a basic right we refuse to abandon.”

Government Reaction

But, in his statement, the Culture Minister labeled the Ophir Awards as “embarrassing and disconnected”.

He added: “During my tenure, the public will not pay financially for a event that spits in the faces of our heroic soldiers.”

Industry Response

Answering Zohar's statements, Assaf Amir stated: “Amid the ongoing conflict in the region takes a terrible toll in death and destruction, the capacity to understand the 'different perspective'... offers small hope.”

He added: “In the face of the Israeli government's criticism on local film, and the calls from sectors of the global cinema world to boycott us, the selection of this film is a powerful and resounding response.”

Background Context

This follows many of US film insiders signed a pledge vowing not to collaborate with Israeli film institutions that are “involved in genocide”.

The nation initiated its war in the territory in reaction to the Hamas-led offensive on the country's south on 7 October 2023, in which about over a thousand people were killed and hundreds more were captured.

No fewer than sixty-five thousand individuals have been fatally injured in military operations from that point, almost half of them minors and females, according to Gaza's health ministry.

On Tuesday, a UN commission of investigation said that Israel had carried out genocide toward Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel's diplomatic office rejected the report and called it “distorted and false”.