Five Gal Gadot protesters arrested in Central London
On May 28th, five protesters were arrested after allegedly targeting the filming of Gal Gadot‘s new movie in central London.
The Metropolitan Police claimed these demonstrators disrupted the filming “solely because an actress involved in the production is Israeli.” Police were called to a filming location in Westminster to identify suspects wanted in connection with offences at earlier protests and to deal with any new offences, Scotland Yard said.
The police subsequently arrested five people for offences relating to harassment and wrongfully and unlawfully obstructing access to a workplace. All protesters remain in custody.
The Snow White actor is said to be filming the new action thriller The Runner, and has been snapped running through London with a blood-soaked face during filming.
Commenting on the arrests, Superintendent Neil Holyoak said: “While we absolutely acknowledge the importance of peaceful protest, we have a duty to intervene where it crosses the line into serious disruption or criminality. We have been in discussions with the production company to understand the impact of the protests on their work and on any individuals involved.”
Galdot has previously and vocally supported Israel, after serving in the Israel Defence Force for two years. Most citizens of the country are required to serve in the military from the age of 18.
Immediately after the Hamas attack on October 7th, Gadot took to Instagram to share an image of the Star of David along with the caption, “I stand with Israel, you should too. The world cannot sit on the fence when these horrific acts of terror are happening!”
A decent amount of backlash to her politics saw red carpet interviews cancelled in the run-up to the recent Disney live-action Snow White, in which she starred opposite vocal pro-Palestine supporter Rachel Zegler. She has since clarified her stance to Variety: “After October 7th, I don’t talk politics — because who cares about the celebrity talking about politics? I’m an artist.”
However, Galdot also explained that she’s “not a hater”, describing how she’s a grandchild of a holocaust survivor who moved to Israel to start a new life “after his entire family was erased in Auschwitz”. The actor also stated that on the other side of her family, she’s “an indigenous person of Israel” who has lived in the country for eight generations.
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