Israel’s culture minister has vowed to strip funding from the country’s premier film awards after “The Sea,” a poignant Arabic-language drama about a 12-year-old Palestinian boy’s dream of seeing the ocean, swept the Ophir Awards on Tuesday night. The controversial win comes as international pressure mounts on Israel over its ongoing military campaign in Gaza, with a UN commission this week concluding that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians.
Miki Zohar, Israel’s Minister of Culture and Sports, denounced the awards ceremony as “disgraceful” and announced that state funding would be withdrawn starting in 2026. The film, which automatically becomes Israel’s entry to the Oscars’ international feature category, won five major awards including best film at Tuesday’s ceremony in Tel Aviv.
There is no greater slap in the face of Israeli citizens than the embarrassing and detached annual Ophir Awards ceremony,” Zohar said in a statement posted on X. “Under my watch, Israeli citizens will not pay from their pockets for a ceremony that spits in the faces of our heroic soldiers.”
A Boy’s Journey to the Sea
Directed by Israeli filmmaker Shai Carmeli-Pollak and produced by Palestinian Baher Agbariya, “The Sea” tells the story of Khaled, a young Palestinian boy from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank who dreams of visiting the Mediterranean for the first time. When Israeli soldiers deny him entry at a checkpoint during a class trip to Tel Aviv, the determined child sneaks across the border, embarking on a dangerous journey whilst his father, an undocumented labourer in Israel, desperately searches for him.
The film’s 13-year-old star, Muhammad Gazawi, became the youngest ever winner of the Ophir’s best actor award. In his acceptance speech, he declared: “I wish for all the children of the world, everywhere, to have the same opportunity – to live and dream without wars.”
Khalifa Natour, who plays the boy’s father, won best supporting actor but did not attend the ceremony. Director Carmeli-Pollak read a statement from Natour in which he referred to Israel’s military campaign as “genocide” against Palestinians, drawing applause from the audience.
Political Firestorm Over Funding
The culture minister’s threat to defund the awards has sparked fierce debate about artistic freedom and government censorship in Israel. Legal experts have questioned whether Zohar has the authority to unilaterally withdraw funding, with civil rights advocates calling his threats “empty” and unconstitutional.
Oded Feller, legal adviser of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, stated: “The ministry’s budget does not belong to his mother, and he is not empowered to interfere with cultural content or the professional judgment of those who select the films.”
In response to the backlash, Zohar announced the creation of a new government-sponsored “Israeli State Oscar” ceremony that would honour films reflecting “the nation’s values and spirit” rather than what he called “foreign, disconnected narratives against Israel and IDF soldiers.
Film Industry Defiant
Assaf Amir, chairman of the Israeli Film Academy, defended the selection whilst acknowledging the fraught political context. Especially in the harsh reality we live in, as the never-ending war in Gaza takes a terrible toll in death and destruction, the ability to see the ‘other,’ even if he is not of your own people, gives small hope,” he said.
Amir added: “In the face of the Israeli government’s attacks on Israeli cinema and culture, and the calls from parts of the international film community to boycott us, the selection of ‘The Sea’ is a powerful and resounding response.”
The ceremony itself was marked by sombre speeches addressing both the war in Gaza and the fate of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. Many attendees dressed in black, and veteran director Uri Barbash used his lifetime achievement award acceptance speech to call for replacing “the regime that declared war on Israeli society.”
International Boycott Movement
The controversy comes as Israel’s film industry faces mounting pressure from an international boycott campaign. More than 4,500 entertainment industry professionals, including Hollywood stars Emma Stone and Joaquin Phoenix, have signed a pledge vowing not to work with Israeli film institutions they deem “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.”
The boycott specifically targets institutions like the Israel Film Fund, which financed “The Sea,” and the Jerusalem Film Festival, where the film premiered in August. A spokesperson for Film Workers for Palestine told Variety this week that the Israel Film Fund meets their threshold for complicity in war crimes.
Despite the boycott, “The Sea” will now represent Israel at the 98th Academy Awards, where the country has been nominated ten times in the international feature category without ever winning. Last year’s documentary Oscar went to “No Other Land,” a joint Israeli-Palestinian production that also drew government ire for its portrayal of West Bank Palestinians.
Backdrop of War and Genocide Allegations
The awards ceremony took place against the backdrop of intensifying military operations in Gaza, where a UN commission this week concluded that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians. The commission found that Israeli authorities have committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the 1948 Genocide Convention.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, at least 65,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its war following the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023, which killed approximately 1,200 Israelis and resulted in 251 hostages being taken. The UN commission cited the death toll, Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid leading to starvation, systematic destruction of healthcare infrastructure, and direct targeting of children as evidence of genocidal intent.
Navi Pillay, chair of the UN commission, stated: “It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention.”
Israel’s foreign ministry rejected the report as “distorted and false,” with Ambassador Danny Meron dismissing the findings as “cherry-picked” and designed to “delegitimize and demonize the state of Israel.”
Cultural Battle Lines
The Ophir Awards controversy reflects deeper divisions within Israeli society over the ongoing war and the country’s treatment of Palestinians. Producer Agbariya, accepting the best film award, dedicated it to “every child’s right to live and dream in peace, without siege, without fear, and without war.”
“This is a basic right that we will not give up on; we are all equal,” he said, thanking the Israel Film Fund for supporting the project despite its politically sensitive subject matter.
The film had received thirteen nominations, making it a frontrunner even before the ceremony. Its sweep of major categories, including best screenplay for Carmeli-Pollak and best original score for Avi Bellili, represents a clear statement from Israel’s cultural community, many of whom have long opposed government policies towards Palestinians.
Future Uncertain
Whether Zohar can legally follow through on his threat to defund the awards remains unclear. The Ophir Awards have been Israel’s gateway to the Oscars since 1991, with winners automatically becoming the country’s submission for consideration in the international feature category.
The shortlist for the 2026 Oscars will be released in December, with “The Sea” now set to compete against submissions from countries worldwide. The film’s selection ensures that Palestinian narratives will represent Israel on the global stage, regardless of government opposition.
As one ceremony attendee noted, the bitter irony is that those calling for boycotts of Israeli cinema will miss seeing a film that powerfully critiques Israeli policies. “The Sea” exemplifies the collaborative potential between Jewish and Palestinian artists, even as political tensions threaten to tear such partnerships apart.
The controversy underscores the increasingly fraught relationship between Israel’s government and its cultural sector, with artists facing pressure from both international boycotts and domestic censorship. As the war in Gaza continues with no end in sight, the battle over cultural expression has become yet another front in a conflict that shows no signs of resolution.
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Image Credit:
Miki Zohar (2020) — photo by Oren Cohen / Miki Zohar, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
