Israeli actress Gal Gadot will not be attending the Venice Film Festival after a protest by the artists' group Venice4Palestine calling for the invitation to her and co-star Gerard Butler to be rescinded due to their alleged support for the Israeli "genocide" in Gaza.
    Gadot, co-star of Julian Schnabel's In the Hand of Dante, presented out of competition, is not among the stars who have confirmed their presence at the Lido.
    The Wonder Woman actress had just returned to the center of controversy, with the Venice4Palestine artist group requesting that the Biennale withdraw the invitation to the Festival from her and Butler, "along with any artist and celebrity who publicly and actively supports genocide." Government parties said the Venice4Palestine move was wrong.
    Isabella De Monte, Forza Italia MP and deputy head of the post Berlusconi party's Foreign Affairs Department, said: "Dialogue and a plurality of ideas are the main tools that culture deploys to overcome sectarianism.
    It's good that Biennale President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco emphasized this to the 1,500 artists who were calling for a boycott of Gal Gadot and her film with Gerard Butler.
    "A reckless protest, because in the eyes of those protesting, Gadot's only crime is being Israeli.
    "The Venice Film Festival deserves respect."
   

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