The criticism of 'Spider-Man' - and of Netanyahu: 'War criminal'
IndieWire's Jewish film critic David Ehrlich, who has previously spoken out against Israel's actions in Gaza, included a sharp jab at the Prime Minister in his review of 'Spider-Man: A New Day': 'The city loves him so much that you would think he just arrested the international war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu.'
The first reviews for 'Spider-Man: A New Day' have begun to be published, and among the discussions about the state of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one of the most prominent critics in the United States found room for a sharp jab at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. David Ehrlich, the senior reviews editor and chief film critic for the American culture website IndieWire, published a review of the new film starring Tom Holland. When Ehrlich, a Jew who has written for well-known media outlets over the years and is considered a leading critic, described the love Spider-Man receives from the residents of New York, he included a political sentence:
'The city loves him so much that you would think he just arrested the international war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu.'
Ehrlich, an American Jew and the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, has previously spoken out sharply against Israel and the war in Gaza. In an article he published in IndieWire last year, he defined what is happening in the Gaza Strip as a 'Palestinian genocide,' accused the film industry of cowardice and of turning the Palestinian issue into a taboo, and referred to the distribution difficulties of the Palestinian Oscar-winning documentary 'No Other Land' and the film 'Yes' by Israeli director Nadav Lapid. According to him, an industry that prides itself on its ability to illuminate the darkest corners of humanity loses its value when it turns its gaze away from reality.
Netanyahu's name has already made headlines in New York recently, after City Council member Zohran Mamdani declared that he would work to implement the arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court if he arrives at the UN General Assembly in the city in September. Mamdani has since admitted that the municipality has no legal authority to carry out the arrest, but called on the federal government to act on the matter. In an interview he gave on Wednesday to Fox News, Netanyahu clarified that he does not intend to change his plans:
'I am going to New York. I intend to tell the truth to this elected official who spreads hatred and incites one group of New Yorkers against others. He is inciting them against the Jews of New York.'
