Gal Gadot's comments about every parent fearing harm to their child are drawing backlash after a clip from her promotional interview for The Runner spread across Reddit on Tuesday, 8 September. The Wonder Woman star said, 'Every parent's biggest fear is that, God forbid, something bad happens to their children,' while discussing the emotional stakes of playing a mother whose son is kidnapped. The clip was posted under a headline identifying Gadot as an 'IDF soldier', prompting users to revisit her past military service and public advocacy for Israel.
The wording hit a nerve because Gadot completed two years of mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces before becoming an international actor. She served as a fitness instructor, and her military background has repeatedly resurfaced throughout her Hollywood career. Critics responding to the new clip connected her comments about parental fear to children killed during the war in Gaza, turning what was intended as a discussion of motherhood and character motivation into another flashpoint around her public image.
Gadot Says Motherhood Helped Her Understand 'The Runner'
In The Runner, Gadot plays Maia Marten, a high-powered London lawyer whose son is kidnapped during her morning run. Prime Video describes the psychological thriller as a race against time in which Maia must keep moving, follow the kidnappers' instructions and tell no one if she wants her child back. The film began streaming on 2 September and also stars Damian Lewis.
Gadot has repeatedly linked her performance to her own experience as a mother of four. In another interview promoting the film, she said, 'Every mother's biggest fear is that something bad will happen to her children,' before adding that every mother she knows is 'a lioness' who would do anything to keep her children safe. Her comments in the clip now circulating use nearly identical language, making the parental instinct at the centre of the film a major part of its publicity.
Critics Revisit Gadot's IDF Service
The backlash quickly moved beyond The Runner. Reddit users brought up Gadot's military background and previous statements supporting Israel, with several arguing that her language about protecting children was difficult to separate from the continuing deaths of Palestinian children. UNICEF said on 6 August that at least three hundred children had reportedly been killed in Gaza during the three hundred days since a ceasefire was announced in October 2025, averaging one child a day.
The criticism also comes as children continue to be killed despite the ceasefire. UNICEF reported on 28 August that at least four children had been killed in Gaza over five days, including boys aged two and four, a 10-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy. The organisation has repeatedly called for children to be protected and for all parties to comply with international humanitarian and human rights law.
Gadot Has Previously Addressed Palestinian Civilian Deaths
Gadot's record is more complicated than some of the online criticism suggests. In 2021, she wrote that Israel deserved 'to live as a free and safe nation' while praying for leaders to find a solution so Israelis and Palestinians 'could live side by side in peace'. In October 2023, she also shared a statement saying that killing innocent Palestinians was 'horrific' alongside a condemnation of the killing of innocent Israelis.
— Gal Gadot (@GalGadot) May 12, 2021
At the same time, Gal Gadot has remained a prominent supporter of Israel and has repeatedly advocated for Israeli hostages taken during the 7 October 2023 attacks. That history helps explain why the new parenting comments have travelled beyond ordinary movie promotion and become a fresh point of criticism. The reaction surrounding the clip is now as much about the public record audiences are bringing to Gadot's words as it is about The Runner itself.
