Roseanne Barr criticized Natalie Portman and defended Kevin Hart ahead of her visit to Israel. In an interview published Friday in the daily newspaper Israel Hayom, the comedian took on Portman, who last April outraged many upon declining to take part in an award ceremony as the recipient of the Genesis Prize Laureate, explaining she "did not want to appear as endorsing Benjamin Netanyahu, who was to be giving a speech at the ceremony." "It was really sickening, I find her repulsive," said Barr of Portman in the interview. "She was raised in incredible privilege of safety in the Jewish state and knows nothing about anti-Semitism."

Portman was born in Jerusalem and moved to the U.S. with her parents at the age of 3. Added Barr, "She's the darling of the left here, the Jewish left in Hollywood, she is a complete hypocrite who grew up in safety and privilege, like I said before, and knows nothing about what she speaks of." Asked about Hart's Oscar controversy following backlash over his past homophobic tweets as it related to Barr's own racist tweet that got her show Roseanne canceled last May, Barr said her fellow comic should be forgiven. "Largely they're digging up things that people did 15 and 20 years ago, and Kevin Hart, his statements were really old and people grow up and change, and he did say he was sorry over and over," she said.

Barr also acknowledged former TV husband John Goodman's appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers last week, during which he said he "really missed her this year" while filming the Roseanne spinoff The Conners. "That was sweet of him, but he should've fought harder for me," she said. "But nobody fights for anybody in Hollywood because it's you next if you do. It's very much a culture of fear and mind control, and it's run by people without a lot of ethics." Barr is set to arrive in Israel at the end of the month, along with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, as a guest of his World Values Network organization and will speak at the Israeli Knesset against the boycott, divest and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.