Yesterday, the world lost one of its greatest stars as Elizabeth Taylor passed away at the age of 79. While she will go down in the history books as an Oscar winner and remembered in her iconic role as Cleopatra, her connection to the State of Israel played a significant role throughout her life. Thanks to researchers pouring the archives at JTA, we now see a picture of a woman who worked tirelessly to defend the Jewish State, even if it meant her life. In an amazing story lost for years but not forgotten, it turns out that Elizabeth Taylor offered herself up as a hostage during the Entebbe hostage crisis of 1976!
Why did the hollywood star seriously consider risking her life to save 100 passengers aboard the hijacked Air France plane? For starters, she converted to Judaism to 1959 before marrying one of her (many) husbands. Since becoming a Jew, she had a great passion for defending Israel. In 1975, she was one of the 60 women who condemned the misguided UN resolution claiming Zionism is a form of racism.
Her support for Israel, which included buying Israel bonds to help the young country support itself, did not earn her much love in the Arab world, where her films were almost universally banned. One of the exceptions was Egypt, who removed her from the blacklist after seeing her in “Cleopatra.”
She frequently visited Israel and met with heads of state, including Prime Ministers Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Rabin.
Source: Israelli.org
Elizabeth Tayler in the Movie "Cleopatra"
