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The nation's top arts official has warned to axe funding for the national cinema honors after The Sea, a story about a young Palestinian youth, won its top award.

This production, which chronicles a child from the disputed West Bank who dreams to travel to Tel Aviv to experience the ocean for the first time, was awarded best film at the Israeli Oscars.

“No deeper slap in the face to Israeli citizens than the embarrassing and detached annual film ceremony event.”

By taking the prize of the top honor category at the Ophir awards, The Sea is now Israel's submission to the international film competition at next year's Academy Awards.

Questions Over Financial Warning

It is not yet clear whether Zohar is empowered to cut support for the ceremony, according to domestic news outlets.

Cast members of The Sea also received additional major prizes at the ceremony, including teenage the young actor who took home the leading performer honor—the youngest ever winner.

Plot Overview

Throughout the story, Gazawi plays a young Khaled who is refused access to Israel at an Israel Defense Forces security post during a class trip to Tel Aviv.

The character then enters secretly Israel and tries to arrive at the sea while his father, an unauthorized worker in Israel, tries to find him.

“This film is about every child's right to live in peace, a basic right we will not give up on.”

Official Response

However, in his statement, the Culture Minister described the Ophir Awards as “shameful and disconnected”.

The minister continued: “During my tenure, Israeli citizens won’t contribute financially for a ceremony that spits in the faces of our heroic soldiers.”

Industry Response

Responding to Zohar's comments, Assaf Amir said: “Amid the ongoing conflict in the region exacts a heavy price in casualties and damage, the capacity to understand the 'other'... offers a glimmer of optimism.”

He continued: “Despite the Israeli government's criticism on local film, and the demands from sectors of the global cinema world to avoid us, the choice of The Sea is a powerful and resounding response.”

Background Context

It comes after thousands of Hollywood insiders endorsed a vow promising not to collaborate with the country's cinematic bodies which are “involved in atrocities”.

Israel initiated its war in the territory in reaction to the militant offensive on the country's south on 7 October 2023, in which approximately 1,200 individuals were died and 251 others were taken hostage.

No fewer than sixty-five thousand individuals have been fatally injured in Israeli attacks since then, almost half of them minors and females, according to the local medical authorities.

On Tuesday, a international body of inquiry declared that Israel had carried out systematic destruction against Palestinian people in Gaza.

Israel's foreign ministry denied the report and called it “inaccurate and false”.