The Zone of Interest exec-producer insists: ‘My support for Israel is unwavering’

The executive producer of The Zone of Interest, who stood on stage at the Oscars as the film’s director Jonathan Glazer accused Israel of  “hijacking” his “Jewishness and the Holocaust” has told Jewish News his support of Israel is “unwavering”.

Accepting the award for Best International Film at the ceremony last Sunday, Glazer said: “Right now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people.”

In response last night, Blavatnik’s team said he is “extremely proud of The Zone of Interest and the acclaim it has received” and that his “long-standing support of Israel is unwavering”.

The words come after Hollywood Reporter claimed Blavatnik did not sign off on Glazer’s Oscars statement.

As reported by Jewish News in December 2023, Blavatnik and his family foundation suspended donations to Harvard over its handling of antisemitism on campus in the wake of 7/10. The foundation has given at least £212m to the university over the years, including about £150m to Harvard’s medical school.

Born in Odessa, Ukraine, Blavatnik was knighted in 2017 by Queen Elizabeth II for his service to philanthropy.

Meanwhile, in a Twitter/X statement, the director of the Auschwitz Memorial Museum has insisted The Zone of Interest is “not a film about the Shoah”.

Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński wrote that rather, it is “primarily a profound warning about humanity and its nature.”

Responses to the Tweet, read by nearly half a million viewers, include an astonished Simon Schama, the noted historian who said: “Er that’s not all (or at all) what he (Jonathan Glazer) said.”