The film focuses on two Palestinian suicide bombers

Amir Harel said screenings of the film in Israel are currently limited to independent art-house cinemas.

Paradise Now is about two friends from Nablus in the West Bank who volunteer to bomb Israeli civilians in Tel Aviv.

Shirit Gal, a publicist who works with Israel's major distributors, said they felt the film "will not bring profits".

Ms Gal said they based their conclusions on a "cost-benefit analysis" prompted by "the subject matter of Paradise Now".

Director Hany Abu-Assad (C) used the talents of little-known Palestinian actors

"Israelis tend to get very patriotic when it comes to politicised entertainment events like this," she added.

Harel said the major distributors and cinemas were being deterred by criticisms of the film voiced in Israel.

Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post recently said that the film "humanises" suicide bombers, making "heroes of villains".

However the film did receive financial backing from the Israeli Film Fund.

"It seems the distributors have made a simple calculation, and decided they do not need the hassle of political demonstrations outside their cinemas," Harel said.

'Art-houses a rarity'

Screen International's Israel correspondent Dan Fainaru told the BBC News website that the film, which was released in November at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, "did quite well".

"The Cinematheque, following the film's Golden Globe win, is screening the film again, drawing a better than average-sized audience," he said, adding art houses were "a kind of rarity here".

He said the other film distributors in Israel had not approached Paradise Now's sales agent Celluloid Dreams.

"And the ones Amir Harel approached simply said they are not interested, without any further comments," he added.

Parents 'prefer' Narnia

"On a purely commercial basis, Paradise Now is not the kind of picture that would draw large Israeli audiences," he said.

"The subject is being over-exposed... on television, everyone's opinion is pretty much set on the matter."

Films in Israel were "still largely considered here as first and foremost entertainment, and naturally, most parents would take their kids to see Narnia rather than Paradise Now".

He added art-house cinemas were the "only available venues" for the film.

Paradise Now won best foreign film at the Golden Globes and was nominated for the prestigious Golden Bear award at Berlin film festival.

It is also up for best foreign film at the Independent Spirit Awards and director Hany Abu-Assad and Bero Beyer won best screen filmwriter at the European Film Awards.

Mr Fainaru said the film has gained additional screenings at the Haifa Film Festival and the Jerusalem Cinematheque, but it was not on regular release.