Portman's Pucker Pandemonium

Thu., Feb. 24, 2005 10:15 AM PST by Josh Grossberg

A kiss is just a kiss--except when it's near the Western Wall.

Natalie Portman is at the center of a brewing controversy in Israel after angering some ultra-Orthodox Jews by puckering up to a male costar in the shadow Jerusalem's holiest shrine during a movie shoot.

According to Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot, Portman and actor Aki Avni were canoodling in a parking lot near the wall for a scene for the upcoming film Free Zone, directed by Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai.

The peck caused a stir among strictly observant Jews praying at the Wall, the last relic of the biblical Second Temple and a place where Jewish law forbids the intermingling of males and females. The newspaper reported that a group of worshippers rushed the actors and berated them for their indiscretion, shouting "immoral, immoral!"

Police were forced to intervene and asked Portman and her crew to come back later, which they agreed to do.

In an interview with the newspaper, the rabbi overseeing the wall said such romantic encounters violate religious and state rules of conduct governing such Holy sites.

"That code was not followed," he told Yediot Ahronot.

Neither Portman's publicist nor a rep from the production was available for immediate comment Thursday.

A partition at the shrine usually separates the sexes, and Gitai admitted to reporters that it was his fault for not obtaining prior permission to shoot the lip-lock. Following the incident, Gitai said that producers were able to work out an arrangement with authorities to film the smooching scene at a later time.

A drama, Free Zone follows a young woman named Rebecca (Portman) who runs away after a fight with her mother-in-law and ends up meeting a taxi driver named Hanna; the two then set off on a road trip together.

Portman, who was born in Israel and raised in New York, has been residing in the country in recent months to take courses at Hebrew University.

Portman, best known as playing Queen Amidala in the Star Wars prequels, won a Golden Globe last month and is due in Hollywood on Sunday for the Oscars, where she is up for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the relationship flick Closer.