Israeli Hollywood star Gal Gadot, best known for her role as Wonder Woman, has swooped in to defend a TV host who came under fire from Benjamin Netanyahu for suggesting Israel is not for Jews alone.

The movie star spoke out after the prime minister criticized Israeli television presenter Rotem Sela for expressing solidarity with Arab-Israelis and arguing that Israel is a country “for all its citizens.”

Netanyahu later issued a rebuke of Sela’s comments, stating that “Israel is not a state of all its citizens. According to the Nation-State Law that we passed, Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people, and them alone.”

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The prime minister’s assertion apparently didn’t sit well with Gadot, who shared her thoughts on the matter with her 28.3 million Instagram followers.

“Love thy neighbor as thyself,” Gadot wrote in Hebrew. “It’s not an issue of Right or Left, Jew or Arab, secular or religious. It’s an issue of dialogue, of dialogue for peace, for equality, for tolerance between one another.”

Gadot added that the “responsibility to grow hope and light for a better future for our children is on us. Rotem, my sister, you are an inspiration to us all.”

Not a good idea to fight with #WonderWoman@netanyahu Gal Gadot supports TV presenter Rotem Sela: "Loving ur neighbor as ur self not a matter of right-left, Jewish-Arab, secular or religious, it is a matter of dialogue, of dialogue for peace, equality & tolerance for each other." pic.twitter.com/nkDwlpDfNN — Ruth Marks Eglash (@reglash) March 10, 2019

Her statement was applauded by likeminded Israelis and Jewish activists.

“Israeli actresses Gal Gadot and Rotem Sela reminded Netanyahu that 20% of Israel’s population is Arab citizens who deserve respect and equality. And this is big news in Israel today. Imagine the potential if many leading actors, artists, academics etc. would consistently protest,” Israeli-American journalist Mairav Zonszein tweeted in response to the controversy.

Israeli actresses Gal Gadot and Rotem Sela reminded Netanyahu that 20% of Israel’s population is Arab citizens who deserve respect and equality. And this is big news in Israel today. Imagine the potential if many leading actors, artists, academics etc. would consistently protest — Mairav Zonszein מרב זונשיין (@MairavZ) March 10, 2019

She rules — Julie Klausner (@julieklausner) March 10, 2019

Netanyahu is now feuding with Gal Gadot, in case you thought our politics had a monopoly on stupid (she's right, by the way) https://t.co/mnsaeBMmR1 — (((Yair Rosenberg))) (@Yair_Rosenberg) March 10, 2019

However, some urged the Hollywood star to be more vocal about her views, encouraging Gadot to do more than just post on Instagram.

This a BFD. I've never seen @GalGadot say anything political before. I wonder if she has the will to go further than an Instagram story that will disappear, and what she could accomplish. Also, ethnonationalism is always bad for Jews, whether it's in the US, Hungary, or Israel! — Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) March 10, 2019

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