Dame Helen Mirren is branded 'racist' for playing Israel's only female leader ...

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Dame Helen Mirren has been subjected to a torrent of abuse for appearing as Israel’s only female leader in a forthcoming biopic.

Internet trolls branded the Oscar-winning actress ‘racist’ and described her as a ‘well known Zionist and Israel-worshipper’ after taking on the role of wartime prime minister Golda Meir.

The film, Golda, is set during the Yom Kippur War in 1973 when Arab states attacked Israel.

Dame Helen described Meir as ‘a formidable, intransigent and powerful leader’ and said it was ‘a great challenge to portray her at the most difficult moment of her extraordinary life’.

But critics on social media described the production as ‘fascism’, ‘sick’ and ‘tasteless’.