Natalie Portman says she hopes to help change Israel's 'racist' Nation State law

The actor Natalie Portman has slammed Israel's Jewish Nation State law as racist and said she hopes “to be part of” changing it.

In an appearance with the BBC's Arabic service to promote her new film Vox Lux, Portman was asked about the law passed by the Knesset in July that recognises Israel as the historic homeland of the Jewish people.

Opposition politicians attacked the law at the time for emphasising only the Jewish character of Israel without mention of democracy or equality, and for relegating the status of Arabic from official to “special status”.

• Explainer: What is Israel's Nation State law?

Portman, was born in Jerusalem and has joint US-Israeli citizenship, was asked by the interviewer Husam Sam Asi: “Recently we had the Israeli Jewish state law that made you more superior than me because you're Jewish and I'm not. How do you feel about that?”