Nadav Lapid Case Used to Argue Old Antisemitic Patterns Persist

An opinion piece argues that Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid’s efforts to distance himself from Israel and denounce it harshly did not win him the acceptance he sought. The article says Lapid was removed from the jury of the FID International Film Festival in Marseille, even after earlier being honored in France, including the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

The writer portrays Lapid as having tried film after film to revive an old medieval image of the Jew as inherently evil, now recast as the corrupt, lying, ugly and violent Israeli. It says he believed that if he criticized Israel more aggressively, he might one day be entrusted with a prominent role, but that illusion collapsed. The article claims he escalated his attacks after the October 7 attacks, and says he described Israeli society as “pornographic,” decadent and ultimately illegitimate.

The piece notes that Lapid has publicly said he wanted to represent “the good in an evil world,” confront “the regime,” fight evil and “be part of the camp of those who love and want to be loved.” It also argues that his self-description as a dissident is undermined by the fact that Israeli public institutions funded him generously, and that he did not face censorship or persecution in Israel.

In the article’s view, even after all of Lapid’s criticism, he was still seen as too Jewish. It says he complained publicly on television and radio, but his former admirers no longer cared. The piece closes by invoking historical antisemitic stereotypes and warns that even total denunciation of Israel would not protect a Jew from hatred. The article is signed by Dr. Rabbi Dov Maimon, a senior research fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute and an antisemitism expert.