Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Kuwait bans ‘Death on the Nile’ after Gal Gadot backlash

(JTA) — Kuwait has banned the upcoming blockbuster film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “Death on the Nile” because Israeli Gal Gadot stars in it.

The Al-Qabas newspaper reported that the decision was made in response to complaints about Gadot on social media, and a spokesperson for the Gulf country’s information ministry confirmed the ban to AFP.

Social media users pointed specifically to Gadot’s public praise of the Israeli army and her criticism of the Hamas terror group during the 2014 war in Gaza. She also served in the Israeli Defense Forces.

Kuwait remains staunchly opposed to normalizing ties with Israel, even after some of its neighbors, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, have signed onto the Abraham Accords.


Get the Forward delivered to your inbox. Sign up here to receive our essential morning briefing of American Jewish news and conversation, the afternoon’s top headlines and best reads, and a weekly letter from our editor-in-chief.


This isn’t the first time that a Gal Gadot film has been banned in the region. Her international breakthrough hit “Wonder Woman” was banned in Lebanon, Qatar and Tunisia.

“Death on the Nile,” directed by noted filmmaker Kenneth Branagh, hit theaters this week in the United States.

The post Kuwait bans ‘Death on the Nile’ after Gal Gadot backlash appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.