Gal Gadot and her husband, Jaron Varsano, are teaming up with FOX Entertainment Studios and the media arm of the Simon Wiesenthal Center to bring Don’t Feed the Lion, a book about antisemitism and Jewish identity for middle schoolers by journalists Bianna Golodryga and Yonit Levi, to the big screen.

The film, announced on Wednesday by Deadline, will follow the story of a fictional 13-year-old Jewish soccer player whose world is crushed when his sports hero shares an antisemitic message that goes viral, leading to antisemitic incidents at his Chicago middle school. It is based on the novel published last November by co-authors Golodryga, an Emmy Award-winning journalist who announced last month that she is leaving CNN after nine years, and Levi, the longtime anchor of Israel’s Channel 12 nightly newscast.

The project comes as the Simon Wiesenthal Center prepares to honor Golodryga with its Jewish Heritage Award at its annual Humanitarian Award Dinner in Los Angeles on Wednesday evening. The Wiesenthal Center is helping to produce the film through its storytelling division, Moriah Media. 

Gadot and Varsano will serve as executive producers on the adaptation. The Hollywood couple said in a joint statement that the book appealed to them because “we want our children to grow up in a world where differences are respected, where hatred is challenged and where no one feels alone in standing up for what is right.” Gadot may also star in the movie, according to Deadline. 

Golodryga and Levi, who were raising their own children in New York and Israel, respectively, when the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and subsequent rise in antisemitism prompted difficult conversations at home, said they struggled to find resources to help young people understand and confront hatred. 

Golodryga told Jewish Insider last November amid the book’s launch that when she asked her son’s school in New York what it was doing to address antisemitism, she received a lengthy response that made clear “there were no resources” and that the school “wasn’t really doing anything.” Levi similarly recalled being caught off guard when her preteen son began asking questions about antisemitism.

The two journalists decided to write the book they wished had existed for their children, drawing on their own experiences and those of their families to create a story that addresses antisemitism through the eyes of middle schoolers. Levi told JI that the book is ultimately about helping children recognize right from wrong, even when the adults around them are reluctant to stand up to hate.