"I consider myself an Israeli, but I am not 100 percent, so I have not served. I got an army call up last year which I passed on," Portman, whose family emigrated when she was 3, was quoted as saying.
The actress, who grew up on Long Island and attends college in Boston, said: "I did deliberate. I had that inner battle. But if I had gone to the army now, it would have postponed my college studies until I was 21. Also, my parents surely wouldn't have been happy if I had gone into the army."
Portman, who visits Israel five times a year, also talked about how she tried to stay away from stereotypical "Israeli" roles: "Israelis are aggressive and not sensitive to having other people around. When I arrive in Israel I know I will be pushed and people will cut lines."
Portman's spokeswoman fumes that the article is an outrageous fabrication, and that she was never interviewed. "They made up the quotes. She was never notified by the army for service," said Kelly Bush, who adds that Portman is "exempt from the army."
Bush said the Portmans didn't complain about the story earlier because it would "stir things up."
Bernheimer couldn't be reached for comment. Uri Dan, the Post's Israel correspondent, said Bernheimer and the paper have solid reputations for accuracy.
An official at the Israeli consulate in New York said: "If [Portman] left the country with her parents before she was 16 and if she does not live in Israel, she would not be required to serve in the army."
Notification or not, some say Portman still has a duty to serve her country of birth. Dr. Mark Klein, a psychiatrist in Berkeley, Cal., has a 19 year-old daughter who claimed her citizenship last year through the "law of return" act. She is now serving in the Israeli army. Klein said, "I think it's disreputable to dodge the draft to make $20 million doing a movie. [Portman] is an Israeli citizen. Israel is still at war and in danger. She's letting down her country and the state of Israel."
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