Helen Mirren: “I Have Wonderful Friends from Israel, Evil Forces Exist Everywhere”

Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren has spoken for the first time about the verbal attack she suffered in London at the end of last month, which is now being investigated by authorities in the United Kingdom as a hate crime. In the incident, a pro-Palestinian activist verbally assaulted Mirren and called her a “Zionist bitch” because of her ties to the State of Israel.

In an interview today, Thursday, at the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily, where she is expected to receive a lifetime achievement award, Mirren addressed the attacker and said he had acted out of “excessive enthusiasm” or mental instability. She added that he may have relied on false information he had read online.

In the interview, Mirren presented a complex view of Israel. On the one hand, she emphasized her deep historical and personal connection to the country, which began with her volunteering at Kibbutz HaOn in 1967 and continued with her portrayal of Golda Meir in director Guy Nattiv’s 2023 film. Mirren noted that she grew up in the shadow of the Holocaust, and therefore saw the establishment of the state as “a very important moment.” She also praised Israel’s intellectual and artistic community, which she described as “extraordinary people.”

On the other hand, the actress voiced sharp criticism of Israel’s current policy toward Palestinians. Mirren asked how “a people who suffered in the past can repeat similar acts against another people,” and she used the term “crimes against humanity” in this context. She said that even on her first visit to the country, a few months after the Six-Day War, she was exposed to “things that troubled her.”

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