The head of the Pharaonic Village Museum in Giza, Egypt, landed himself in hot water after he included a photograph of the late Israeli prime minister Golda Meir in an exhibition titled “Pioneering Women,” the Jerusalem Post reports.

Abdel-Salam Raged was heavily criticized after a snapshot of the Golda Meir exhibit went viral on social media. The exhibition also featured profiles of Angelina Jolie, Queen Cleopatra, Egyptian feminist Huda Saharawi, and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (see Museum Removes Controversial Margaret Thatcher Statue from View).

Meir’s photo at the Egyptian museum caused outrage on social media
Photo: Jerusalem Post

Ynet News reported that the Egyptian writer Youssef al-Qaid called for legal action against Raged and went so far as to call Meir “an anti-Arab extremist,” and labeled the exhibition “a crime against the homeland.”

According to the Jerusalem Post Raged was forced to apologize, telling Al-Ahram, “The exhibition includes statues and photos of 70 women figures from all over the world that have affected our lives, whether in a positive or negative way, starting from ancient Egypt until now.”

The exhibition took place at the Pharaonic Village in Giza, Egypt
Photo: Mohammad Helmi via Panoramio

He continued, “Our message was to highlight women’s powers—not call for a normalization of relations with Israel.”

Meir served as Prime Minister during Israel’s Yom Kippur War with Egypt and Syria in 1973. Although the Israel and Egypt have been at peace for 36 years, tensions between the countries remain high and cultural exchanges are frowned upon.