Helen Mirren on Israel: "How can you repeat to others what was done to you as a people?"

Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren addressed today, Thursday, an incident in which she was verbally attacked in London by a man who called her an "evil Zionist bitch."

Mirren, who is currently in Sicily to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Taormina Film Festival, was asked about the incident, which actually took place in November but returned to the headlines in recent weeks after the video, which showed her in East London with her husband, American director Taylor Hackford, was reposted.

"I was mistakenly attacked by a person who may have been overly enthusiastic, or perhaps not entirely mentally stable," Mirren said. She has previously said she believes in Israel's right to exist, and as is known, she also portrayed former Prime Minister Golda Meir in Guy Nattiv's film "Golda."

The Oscar winner called for caution regarding what people read and see on social media, and then sought to clarify her position on Israel. "Dark forces are rising everywhere, even in a country like Israel," she said. "How can you repeat to others what was done to you as a people?" she added, in what was perceived as a comparison between the Holocaust and the current war in Gaza.

"I was attacked in the street alongside my husband," she continued. "I have many dear friends from Israel. The artistic and intellectual community in Israel is extraordinary. I was born at the end of World War II and grew up in postwar Europe. My parents' generation's understanding of what happened in the Holocaust was so deep and so meaningful. That is why the establishment of the State of Israel was a very important moment. Maybe it was done in completely the wrong way, in the wrong place, I don't know. But something had to happen after that horror."

The 80-year-old Mirren said that she has "many Jewish friends" and that her first two partners were Jewish. One of them was British, and she traveled to Israel with him when she was young. Shortly after the Six-Day War, she volunteered at Kibbutz HaOn on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, and referring to that period, she briefly said that she saw "some things" in Israel during the conflict, but did not elaborate further.

She later added: "When you play Catherine the Great, you ask why she was called 'the Great.' Because she conquered territories. Why was Alexander the Great called 'the Great'? Because he conquered territories. He invaded, killed people, destroyed cities and took land. Why is he remembered in history? Because through unimaginable cruelty and enormous brutality, he conquered territories. And it breaks my heart. That is what I mean. Evil is always lurking and waiting to take over, even in a place like Israel."

She said, "I played Golda Meir and worked in a country that was, for me, idealistic Israel. I always thought it was a country that would never do wrong. But of course it did wrong, even then."