Helen Mirren Visits Jerusalem For New Film ‘Golda,’ Says She Is Inspired By Anti-Government Protests

(JERUSALEM) – Helen Mirren, who plays Israel’s first female prime minister in her upcoming film, says she was inspired by the country’s current prime leader’s huge demonstrations.

In “Golda,” Mirren plays the late Golda Meir during the 1973 conflict between Israel and a coalition of Arab governments. She is visiting Israel, which is also in trouble, with widespread protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s intention to alter the country’s judicial system.

Mirren stated at a press conference before the Jerusalem Film Festival that the protests motivated her.”When I see these massive demonstrations, I’m personally very moved and excited,” she remarked. “I believe it is a watershed moment in Israeli history.”

Netanyahu’s coalition administration, which entered office in December, is the most ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox government in Israel’s 75-year history.

Hundreds of thousands have flocked to the streets to oppose the proposed judicial change for more than six months. Netanyahu’s supporters argue that the plan is necessary to limit the powers of an unelected judiciary. His opponents argue that a blatant power grab will destabilize the country’s frail system of checks and balances.

Mirren contrasted Meir’s leadership — who frequently offered coffee to her military aides while they met in her kitchen to deliberate strategy — with Netanyahu’s, who has a reputation for being haughty and out of touch with ordinary Israelis.

“She had enormous power, but she was perfectly content to toddle around the kitchen, making everyone coffee and being the grandmother,” Mirren explained. “It’s a very different attitude towards power — from the male, Netanyahu type of power to the female, Golda Meir kitchen power.”

Helen Mirren, who plays Israel’s first female prime minister in her upcoming film, says she was inspired by the country’s current prime leader’s huge demonstrations.

Mirren’s visit also coincides with Netanyahu’s government’s efforts to strengthen its grip on the West Bank. His administration has approved plans for thousands of new homes in West Bank settlements, raising tensions with Palestinians.

This year, Israeli fire has killed over 150 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and Palestinian attacks against Israelis have killed at least 25 people. According to Israel, most Palestinians slain were militants, while stone-throwers and individuals who were not participating in violence were also killed.

Some of Netanyahu’s supporters are West Bank settlement leaders who have pushed to undermine Palestinians’ national ambitions, a view Meir memorably voiced in 1969.

“There was no such thing as Palestinians,” Meir told the Sunday Times. Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister, recently repeated Meir, saying, “There is no such thing as a Palestinian people.”

Lior Ashkenazi, the Israeli actor who plays the Israeli army’s commander in the film, believes Meir would support moves to annex the West Bank.

“Even though she was a socialist,” Ashkenazi explained, “I think she would definitely support the settlers.”

The film, directed by Guy Nattiv and written by Nicholas Martin, concentrates on Meir’s leadership during the 1973 Mideast war when an Arab coalition led by Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on Yom Kippur, the Jewish calendar’s holiest day.

Helen Mirren, who plays Israel’s first female prime minister in her upcoming film, says she was inspired by the country’s current prime leader’s huge demonstrations.

Israel emerged triumphant from the battle under the leadership of Meir and Israeli military officers, with its forces within 70 miles (120 kilometers) of Cairo, Egypt’s capital. The outcome of the conflict set the framework for a deal between Israel and Egypt.

However, Israel suffered severe casualties during the war, and Meir was chastised for the government’s lack of preparation and refusal to act on intelligence signaling an impending invasion. Meir resigned the following year, and the national trauma caused by the war triggered a process that brought the right-wing Likud party, which Netanyahu now heads, to power in 1977.

Mirren, a British-born actor, has received both Oscar and Emmy nominations for her roles as Queen Elizabeth II in “The Queen” and Sofia Tolstoy in “The Last Station.”

SOURCE – (AP)