Gal Gadot has weighed in on the accelerating violence between Israel and Palestine, prompting many on social media to recall her past in the Israeli Defense Force.
The Israeli actress has commented on the surge in violence plaguing the Middle East over the last days, with hundreds of Palestinians wounded in clashes with Israeli police.
Gal Gadot Calls For Peace In The Middle East But Gets Slammed On Social Media
Gadot took to her social platforms on May 12 to ask for peace, but her comments were slammed as insensitive and vague.
“My heart breaks. My country is at war,” the actress writes, adding a broken heart emoji in the caption.
“I worry for my family, my friends. I worry for my people. This is a vicious cycle that has been going on for far too long,” she continues.
Gadot also referred to Palestinians as “our neighbors”.
“Israel deserves to live as a free and safe nation, our neighbors deserve the same,” she adds.
She also says: “I pray for the victims and their families, I pray for this unimaginable hostility to end, I pray for our leaders to find the solution so we could live side by side in peace. I pray for better days.”
Gadot restricted her comment section on both Twitter and Instagram.
Twitter Recalls Gadot’s Past In The Israeli Defense Force
While Gadot’s statement is a request for peace, some on social media slammed the actress for having been complicit in the violence in the past.
Gadot served in the Israeli Defense Force as a soldier for two years when she was 18. Serving in the Israel Defense Force is mandatory for all Israel citizens over the age of 18 and those who refuse to serve could face jail time.
“Reminder Gal Gadot served in the IDF for two years where she not only witnessed the ethnic cleansing of Palestine firsthand but also actively supported it. How can you advocate to stop the vicious cycle of terror when you are a very part of it,” one comment on Twitter reads.
“the fact that gal gadot couldn’t bring herself to say palestine or palestinians once but instead refers to them as neighbours is very telling,” was another comment.
One Twitter user compared Gadot’s statement to her tone-deaf rendition of Imagine at the beginning of last year’s Covid-19 lockdown.
“al gadot brings that bunk-ass "imagine" video energy to this expectedly terrible statement. "a vicious cycle that has been going on for far too long" -- since when, do you think? "our neighbors" -- you can't even say palestinians?” they wrote.