Director pulls out of Jerusalem teaching trip in protest against Israel's proposed loyalty oath for new citizens, saying the controversial policy was 'the last straw'

Bafta-winning film-maker Mike Leigh has pulled out of a teaching trip to Israel due to his concern over the country's proposed loyalty oath bill.

Leigh said he was not prepared to take part in the "great masters" programme at the Sam Spiegel Film & Television School in Jerusalem. In a letter to school director Renen Schorr, he cited several of Israel's policies, including the oath, which would require non-Jews seeking Israeli citizenship to pledge allegiance to Israel as a "Jewish and democratic state".

"As you know, I have always had serious misgivings about coming, but I allowed myself to be persuaded by your sincerity and your commitment," Leigh wrote. "And it is because of those special qualities of yours that I am especially sorry to have to let you down. But I have absolutely no choice. I cannot come, I do not want to come, and I am not coming.

"Eight weeks after our lunch, the Israeli attack on the flotilla took place. As I watched the world very properly condemn this atrocity, I almost cancelled. I now wish I had, and blame my cowardice for not having done so.

"Since then, your government has gone from bad to worse. I need not itemise all that has taken place ... I still had not faced up to the prospect of pulling out until a few weeks ago, but the resumption of the illegal building on the West Bank made me start to consider it seriously. And now we have the Loyalty Oath.

"This is the last straw – quite apart from the ongoing criminal blockade of Gaza, not to mention the endless shooting of innocent people there, including juveniles ..."

Schorr responded with his own letter, in which he cited Sam Spiegel's record of working with Palestinian film-makers and said the school should not be punished for the actions of the Israeli government.

"We agreed to convene a press conference where you had an open platform to express your sharp objections to Israeli policy, should you have desired," he said. "The reverberation of the words you spoke here – from Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jenin – would have been heard so much differently.

"Here, too, you were presented with the genuine opportunity to speak to hearts and minds, and have a direct influence upon public awareness and opinion. To touch the future. To try to change the realities. Yet now you have chosen to stay distant."

A number of film-makers and actors have chosen to boycott Israel film festivals and other events in recent years over the country's political actions. In July it was reported that Meg Ryan and Dustin Hoffman had pulled out of the Jerusalem film festival due to their concern over the country's attack on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla that left nine dead earlier this year.