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 JERUSALEM — Actress Natalie Portman has snubbed a prestigious prize known as the "Jewish Nobel," saying she did not want her attendance to be seen as an endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 
 
 Portman was to have received the award in Israel in June and said in a statement issued early Saturday that her reasons for skipping the ceremony had been mischaracterized by others, and she is not part of the BDS, a Palestinian-led global movement of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. 
 
 News of Portman's decision to skip the event triggered an angry backlash Friday from some in the country's political establishment. 
 
 That was due to reports that Portman through a representative had told the Genesis Prize Foundation she was experiencing "extreme distress" over attending its ceremony and would "not feel comfortable participating in any public events in Israel." 
 
 Portman's statement said her decision had been mischaracterized. 
 
 "Let me speak for myself. I chose not to attend because I did not want to appear as endorsing Benjamin Netanyahu, who was to be giving a speech at the ceremony," she wrote. 
 
 "Like many Israelis and Jews around the world, I can be critical of the leadership in Israel without wanting to boycott the entire nation. I treasure my Israeli friends and family, Israeli food, books, art, cinema, and dance.'" 
 
 She asked people to "not take any words that do not come directly from me as my own." 
 
 Israel faces some international criticism over its use of lethal force in response to mass protests along the Gaza border led by the Islamic militant group that rules the territory. 
 
 One Israeli lawmaker warned that Portman's decision is a sign of eroding support for Israel among young American Jews. 
 
 The Jerusalem-born Portman is a dual Israeli-American citizen. The Oscar-winning actress moved to the United States as a young girl, evolving from a child actress into a widely acclaimed A-list star. Portman received the 2011 best actress Academy Award for "Black Swan," and, in 2015, she directed and starred in "Tale of Love and Darkness," a Hebrew-language film set in Israel based on an Amos Oz novel. Her success is a great source of pride for many Israelis. 
 
 The Genesis Prize Foundation said Thursday that it had been informed by Portman's representative that "recent events in Israel have been extremely distressing" to Portman, though it did not refer to specific events. 
 
 Since March 30, more than three dozen Palestinians have been killed by Israeli army fire, most of them in protests on the Gaza-Israeli border. Hundreds more have been wounded by Israeli troops during this time. 
 
 Israel says it is defending its border and accuses Hamas, a militant group sworn to Israel's destruction, of trying to carry out attacks under the guise of protests. It has said that some of those protesting at the border over the past few weeks tried to damage the fence, plant explosives and hurl firebombs, or flown kites attached to burning rags to set Israeli fields on fire. Several Israeli communities are located near the Gaza border. 
 
 Rights groups have branded open-fire rules as unlawful, saying they effectively permit soldiers to use potentially lethal force against unarmed protesters. 
 
 Israel's right-wing Culture Minister Miri Regev said in a statement Friday that she was sorry to hear that Portman "has fallen like a ripe fruit into the hands of BDS supporters," referring to the Palestinian-led boycott movement. 
 
 "Natalie, a Jewish actress born in Israel, is joining those who relate to the wondrous success story of Israel's rebirth as a story of 'darkness and darkness'," Regev said. 
 
 Rachel Azaria, a lawmaker from the centrist Kulanu party, warned that Portman's decision to stay away is a sign of eroding support for Israel among young American Jews. 
 
 "The cancellation by Natalie Portman needs to light warning signs," Azaria said in a statement. "She is totally one of us. She identifies with her Jewishness and Israeli-ness. She is expressing now the voices of many in U.S. Jewry, mainly those of the young generation. This is a community that was always a significant anchor for the state of Israel. The price of losing them could be too high." 
 
 Oren Hazan, a legislator in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud Party, called on the government to revoke Portman's Israeli citizenship. 
 
 Gilad Erdan, Israel's Public Security Minister said he sent a letter to Portman expressing his disappointment. "Sadly, it seems that you have been influenced by the campaign of media misinformation and lies regarding Gaza orchestrated by the Hamas terrorist group," he wrote. 
 
 He invited her to visit and see for herself the situation on the ground. 
 
 The Genesis foundation said it was "very saddened" by Portman's decision and would cancel the prize ceremony, which had been set for June 28. 
 
 "We fear that Ms. Portman's decision will cause our philanthropic initiative to be politicized, something we have worked hard for the past five years to avoid," it said. 
 
 Portman said in her statement that the backlash has inspired her to make numerous contributions to charities in Israel. She pledged to announce those grants soon. 
 
 The Genesis Prize was launched in 2013 to recognize Jewish achievement and contributions to humanity. Previous recipients include former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, actor Michael Douglas, violinist Itzhak Perlman and sculptor Anish Kapoor. 
 
 When Portman was announced late last year as the 2018 recipient, she said in a statement released by organizers at the time that she was "proud of my Israeli roots and Jewish heritage." ||||| Natalie Portman Denounced by Israeli Government Over Decision Not to Attend Awards 
 
 The move, believed to be in response to Israel's recent deadly shooting of Palestinian protestors, has been praised by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. 
 
 Israel's minister for culture and sports has denounced Natalie Portman's decision to decline an award in her homeland of Israel over politics. 
 
 "I was saddened to hear that Natalie Portman has fallen as a ripe fruit in the hands of BDS supporters," stated Miri Regev, associating the actress' decision with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. "Natalie, a Jewish actress who was born in Israel, now joins those who refer to the success and wonder of the rebirth of Israel as 'a tale of darkness.'" 
 
 Regev's reference was to the Oscar winner's 2015 directorial feature debut A Tale of Love and Darkness, an adaptation of the autobiographical novel by Israeli author Amos Oz that was shot in Jerusalem. 
 
 Portman was due to collect the Genesis Prize but pulled out Thursday, with a rep telling event organizers that "recent events in Israel have been extremely distressing to her and she does not feel comfortable participating in any public events in Israel" and that "she cannot in good conscience move forward with the ceremony." 
 
 The Genesis Prize honors notable individuals "who inspire others through their dedication to the Jewish community and Jewish values." Previous Hollywood honorees include actor Michael Douglas and musician Itzhak Perlman. The Genesis Prize Foundation announced Portman as the honoree in November. 
 
 News of Portman's decision drew strong reaction on social media, with many taking offense not only at Portman's announcement but its timing, as Israel wrapped up its 70th Independence Day celebration on Thursday. 
 
 "She's spitting in her homeland's face on our most celebratory day," read an online comment, while others called Portman's action nothing short of "treason" and "a shameful elitist choice against her fellow countrymen" and "succumbing to BDS movement's ploy." 
 
 Some simply suggested the award be given to Gal Gadot, who "represents our country with great honor." 
 
 Meanwhile, PACBI, the academic and cultural arm of the BDS movement and a Nobel Peace Prize-nominated pro-Palestinian activist group that seeks to cut global ties with Israel, praised Portman's move. 
 
 "After decades of egregious human rights violations against Palestinians, Israel's recent massacre of peaceful protesters in Gaza has made its brand so toxic that even well-known Israeli-American cultural figures, like Natalie Portman, now refuse to blatantly whitewash, or art-wash, Israeli crimes and apartheid policies," it said in a statement. 
 
 While Portman declined further comment, the decision comes as an apparent response to mass protests on the Gaza-Israel border that saw scores of Palestinians shot dead by Israeli Defense Forces and more than 1,000 injured, and her ongoing opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 
 
 Portman's criticism of Netanyahu dates back to his 2015 election day video message on Facebook urging supporters to hurry up and vote as, "The right-wing government is in danger, Arab voters are heading to the polling stations in droves." 
 
 He later apologized, acknowledging, "the things I said a few days ago hurt some Israeli citizens." 
 
 "We, who have such a history with anti-Semitism, should understand the danger of racism and of how we treat minorities, and I felt that his comments were very much not showing a Jewish spirit of equality and dignity and peace," said Portman during an interview that year with The News Company's Yonit Levi. 
 
 "I think all Israelis know that it's much easier to criticize in Israel than outside, I don't know, it's such a hard combination to be — to obviously have deep love for the place you're from and also see what's wrong with it. So it becomes a tricky thing, certainly increasingly tricky." 
 
 Additional reporting by Maya Cohen.
– Israeli-born Natalie Portman has set off a controversy in her native country with a decision to skip a prestigious award ceremony there for political reasons. Portman had been scheduled to travel to Israel in June to receive the Genesis Prize, which NBC News notes is known as the "Jewish Nobel." However, the actress informed prize organizers that she won't be making the trip because she would "not feel comfortable participating in any public events in Israel." Her rep cited "recent events" without providing specifics, but Portman is believed to be referring to Israel's use of deadly force against unarmed protesters on the border between Israel and Gaza. It's unclear whether Portman will still receive the $1 million in prize money from the Genesis Prize Foundation, which she planned to donate to women's groups, reports the New York Times. Portman has been publicly critical of Benjamin Netanyahu and his polices in the past, and her decision to skip the award ceremony drew condemnation from Israel's minister of culture and sports, notes the Hollywood Reporter. "I was saddened to hear that Natalie Portman has fallen as a ripe fruit in the hands of BDS supporters," said Miri Regev, using the acronym for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel. However, Israeli lawmaker Rachel Azaria said Portman's move signaled that Israel is losing the support of young Jewish people in America. "The price of losing them could be too high," she says. Portman was being recognized for her work in films, including 2015's Tale of Love and Darkness, an adaptation of an autobiographical novel by Israeli author Amos Oz that was set in Israel. Portman starred in the film and directed it.