British director Mike Leigh last visited Israel in 1990. (TIFF)

Award-winning British filmmaker Mike Leigh has cancelled a trip to Israel, in which he was to lead workshops with film students, to protest against Israeli policy.

The 67-year-old director of acclaimed films such as Life is Sweet, Topsy Turvy, Secrets & Lies, Vera Drake and most recently, Another Year, was to arrive Nov. 20 for a one-week stint at the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem.

He was also supposed to give a lecture to Palestinian moviemakers at the Jenin Cinema.

According to the newspaper Haaretz, Leigh, who is Jewish, wrote a letter to the school saying he opposed Israel's policies on Gaza and calling the loyalty oath requirement the "last straw." The requirement, which the Israeli cabinet approved last week, obligates non-Jewish immigrants to pledge loyalty to a "Jewish and democratic" state.

Leigh last visited Israel in 1990 and said he has stayed away in protest. In his letter, he said he considered withdrawing last spring from the November visit after an Israeli raid on a flotilla of Gaza-bound ships resulted in nine deaths. Leigh said he reconsidered the visit once again when the Israeli government said it would resume allowing new building in the West Bank.

But the loyalty oath legislation was the last straw, Leigh said. He added that he would not visit would Israel again until there was a "just solution" to the Palestinian issue.

He also apologized to the students and staff of the film school.

Leigh missed 'a real opportunity'

The school's director, Renee Schorr, wrote back to Leigh:

"The students, teachers, artists, and various professionals who eagerly await your arrival are not the elected Israeli government nor are they responsible for its policy. The nexus that you create by your de facto boycott between artistic and cultural bodies of work and the policy of the government and the army is a disturbing and unfortunate generalization."

Schorr also indicated there was an agreement the director could hold a news conference when he arrived in Israel to express his objections to government policy.

"It would have granted you a real opportunity to reach many ears and minds and to directly appeal to public opinion and public consciousness . … It would have allowed you to touch the future and try to change reality. Instead, you chose to remain distant."