Image by Twitter

By Naomi Zeveloff May 18, 2017

Israel’s culture minister Miri Regev showed up to the Cannes film festival in France this week in a dress that doubled as a political statement.

Regev wore a floor-length skirt printed with a wrap-around photograph of Jerusalem’s Old City. According to a press release the dress was meant “to express in its spirit the beauty of Jerusalem, in honor of the 50th anniversary of its liberation and unification.”

This June marks 50 years since the Six-Day War when Israel captured the eastern half of Jerusalem, where Palestinians hope to build a capital city. Israel later annexed East Jerusalem.

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The dress was designed by Aviad Arik Herman, an Israeli costume and fashion designer who also outfitted Miss Universe Sweden.

Proud #designer ! Israeli #Culture #Minister on the #redcarpet at #cannesfilmfestival . This #exclusive #dress I designed in #honor and #celebration of #Jerusalem ???????? thank you so much dear minister for the privilege, opportunity and great honor! And Thank you so much to my team!!! My design assistant and best mom ever @saritsadihermn , @bbsol for the amazing original graphic design, and @karin_brudno for the sponsorship with finest fabrics! #lovewhatido ❤️

A post shared by Aviad Arik Herman (@aviadarikherman) on May 17, 2017 at 5:54pm PDT

Regev, who has been accused of threatening, rather than defending, freedom of expression in the arts in Israel, especially for Arabs, was panned and praised on Twitter for the outfit.

“Miri Regev’s dress is cool and all, but it’s lacking one little thing: the 370,000 Palestinians living in “united” East Jerusalem, 41% of its population,” wrote user Shira Makin.

Others joked that Trump should move the U.S. embassy to Miri Regev’s dress, since he has delayed his promise to relocate the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Contact Naomi Zeveloff at zeveloff@forward.com or on Twitter @naomizeveloff

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