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Monday, October 22, 2018
Israel advances bill linking cultural funding with 'loyalty' to state
Left-wing politicians criticise bill as another step towards silencing expression
Israel Culture Minister Miri Regev (AFP/file photo)
Sunday 21 October 2018
A ministerial committee in Israel's parliament voted on Sunday to
advance a bill that would cut subsidies to cultural organisations
accused of not showing "loyalty" to the state, the culture minister
said.
The proposed legislation, denounced by artists and freedom of speech
activists, was proposed by Culture Minister Miri Regev and supported by
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon.
The decision by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation means that the
bill will be fast-tracked to a full cabinet vote before being
introduced in the Knesset as a government bill, the Times of Israel
said.
It would give the finance and culture ministries the power to slash
subsidies to any institution presenting work that denies Israel's
existence as a democratic and Jewish state or that marks the state's
independence day as a national day of mourning, AFP reported.
For Palestinians, the anniversary marks the Nakba, or "catastrophe",
when more than 700,000 fled or were expelled during the war surrounding
Israel's creation.
The draft law would also see funding cut over work that attacks the state flag, or incites racism or terrorism.
Regev said in a news release: “Freedom of expression is a guiding light
for us and a central value in the life of the State of Israel as a
democratic state, but preserving freedom of expression does not allow
incitement against the Jewish and democratic State of Israel.”
Still, left-wing politicians criticized the bill.
Knesset opposition leader Tzipi Livni said the “demand for loyalty in
art is another step in silencing expression and forcing culture to be a
mouthpiece for the government,” the Times of Israel reported.
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Regev, a member of Israel's ruling right-wing Likud party, is no
stranger to controversy and has repeatedly clashed with the country's
largely left-leaning cultural elite.
Last year she slammed the Israeli dramaFoxtrot, which won the Venice Film Festival's second-highest prize, for spreading untruths about the Israeli army.
She was not invited to September's Ophir Awards - Israel's version of the Oscars - where Foxtrot won the best picture prize.
She instead appeared live on her Facebook page to criticise the movie and members of Israel's Film and Television Academy.
