Israel's answer to the Nobels, the Genesis Prize Foundation has been forced to cancel their upcoming prize-giving ceremony due to the fact that winner Natalie Portman no longer wishes to attend after recent conflicts within her birth nation. It's certainly a difficult time for a lot of Israeli-born stars.

Natalie Portman at the 'Annihilation' premiereNatalie Portman at the 'Annihilation' premiere

Known by some as the 'Jewish Nobel', the Genesis Prize ceremony was due to take place in June, but the 36-year-old actress has reached out to the organisers to explain just why she will not be flying to the country for the celebrations.

'Recent events in Israel have been extremely distressing to her and she does not feel comfortable participating in any public events in Israel', a representative for the star told the GPF. 'She cannot in good conscience move forward with the ceremony.'

Natalie was dubbed the 2018 Genesis Prize Laureate last November and vowed to donate the $1 million prize money to women's rights charities. 

'Ms. Portman is a highly accomplished actress, a committed social activist and a wonderful human being', the GPF said in a statement. 'The staff of the Foundation... respects her right to publicly disagree with the policies of the government of Israel. However, we are very saddened that she has decided not to attend the Genesis Prize Ceremony in Jerusalem for political reasons.'

Despite it being the 70th anniversary year, the Foundation have decided against holding the ceremony altogether out of fear of bringing politics into their humanitarian ventures. 'We fear that Ms. Portman's decision will cause our philanthropic initiative to be politicized, something we have worked hard for the past five years to avoid', they added.

More: Natalie Portman responds to 'Annihilation' white-washing' criticisms

It's not clear what events precisely have changed Natalie's mind about the whole thing, but it's likely to have something to do with the recent violent military action against Palestinian protests at the Gaza fence.