Natalie Portman’s Husband To Perform in Tel Aviv — Will She Join Him?

Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied Image by Getty Images

By Jenny Singer July 16, 2018

Well well well well well well well.

All things must eventually wash up on the shores of Zion, and Natalie Portman’s French ballerina trophy husband is certainly not an exception.

Benjamin Millepied and the dance troupe he founded will travel to Israel this Fall to give three performances in the Tel Aviv neighborhood of Neve Tzedek, the Jerusalem Post reported. Millepied and his group L.A. Dance will showcase Millepied’s choreography as well as the work of Martha Graham.

But enough about high art crossing cultures and oceans and blah blah blah — the question is, will Natalie, Israel’s prodigal-ish son, be returning to the Holy Land?

Portman, once Hashem’s favorite angel, fell from grace (emphatically stepped down from grace?) when she refused to accept the Genesis Prize, an award that would have required to appear at an event alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Though Portman made it clear that she loves Israel and does not believe in BDS but simply did not want to support the Netanyahu government, the pro-Israel community (which the Schmooze counts itself very much a part of!) is not known for its understanding of nuance.

Millepied’s performance in Israel would be a fun opportunity for Portman to visit Israel to demonstrate that she is not engaging in a cultural boycott and show the older generation (and a lot of the younger generation) that using ones platform to hold systems of power accountable can be a great pastime! On the other hand, she may be busy that weekend with raising her two children and being one of the most bankable and successful actresses in the world. On the third hand … nu? Would it hurt her to just drop by?

Jenny Singer is the deputy lifestyle editor for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

Jenny Singer is a freelance writer with pieces in Vox, the Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Teen Vogue, and more. She was previously a staff writer at Glamour and the Forward, and she’s currently getting an MFA in nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

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. We’re near the end of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO