Eldar condemned the decision, telling Ynet: "Now I understand what antisemitism means." He added that his work had been unfairly targeted.
In a statement, EDIFF organisers said: “The festival has made the difficult decision to remove Rave from our programme. We had to consider our audience and artists, and we are under pressure from the artistic community.
"The subject of the piece is controversial and causes tension, and as a non-political organisation, we must be extremely cautious about where we shine our spotlight.”
The festival clarified that the decision was not a boycott of Israeli films, but rather a response to the “political” nature of the work.
“EDIFF does not boycott Israeli films, but we had to make the difficult decision to boycott anything specifically relating to events impacting ongoing conflicts worldwide,” the statement continued.
A spokesperson from the festival said that concerns had been raised about the film's perceived bias.
"We consulted a conflict resolution specialist who agreed that the film highlights a politically contentious and incendiary situation," the spokesperson said.
As a result, the film was withdrawn and a full refund was offered to Eldar.
Founded in the UK’s south west, EDIFF is a not-for-profit festival that showcases world-class independent dance films, talks and workshops.
Each year, the festival, which took place in October, attracts an audience and artists from around the globe.
