The artist who painted the portrait of Lord Wallace Browne says he was “saddened” to hear it had been damaged in a weekend incident at Belfast City Hall.
But self-imposed Israeli exile Zohar has rejected suggestions that the any damage to the painting could have been motivated by antisemitism.
The 80-year-old classically-trained painter, who grew up in Israel and studied at the Belzalel Academy in Jerusalem, has disowned the country he once called home over its treatment of the Palestinian people.
“I’m not Jewish and thank God I am no longer Israeli,” the London-based painter told The Irish News.
In the wake of Saturday’s City Hall event to mark the 20th anniversary of Irish language group Glór na Móna, a Sinn Féin employee resigned from his job and the party after admitting involvement in the incident which saw the portrait of the former DUP mayor damaged.
It came within 48 hours of councillors agreeing the removal from City Hall of a portrait of former Belfast mayor Niall Ó Donnghaile after it emerged he sent inappropriate texts to a teenager.
After Lord Browne’s portrait was damaged, DUP leader Gavin Robinson said in a social media post: “We don’t know if the motivation was sectarian bigotry, antisemitism, wanton destruction or a heady mix of the three... but [it’s] a disgrace.”
Zohar, who was previously commissioned to paint Princess Diana and whose exhibition depicting the illegal Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories was pulled by west Belfast’s Cultúrlann in August last year following a complaint, said he believed the damage to the painting was “nothing personal against me”.
“I no longer regard myself as Jewish or Israeli so I do not believe any kind of antisemitism was behind this incident,” he said.
“I left Israel in 1986-87 after I had been protesting for 20 years about the treatment of Palestinians – I’m not Jewish and thank God I am no longer Israeli.”
Painted in 2006 at the end of Wallace Browne’s tenure as lord mayor, Zohar described the portrait as " the most “technically challenging” he has ever painted.
“Reproducing the large amount of gold lace, embroidered stitching and the chain of office involved some very intricate and meticulous brush work,” he said.
The Kazakhstan-born artist, who no longer paints due to Parkinson’s Disease, described the DUP peer as “very pleasant and very funny”.
“He still sends me a card every Christmas,” he said.
Zohar said he would be happy to oversee any repairs to the painting if necessary.
“It saddens me that this has happened, as I don’t believe art should be damaged for political reasons,” he said.
