Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of a weekly cabinet meeting that
the “state of Israel is subject to a de-legitimization attack on the part of
different elements in the international arena, including attempts to launch
academic and economic boycotts. The last thing we need now is attempted
boycotts from within.
"I
don't want to reject every artist's right to a political opinion, but we as a
government should not fund boycotts against Israel's citizens. I was happy to
hear from the culture minister that other artists announced they would perform
as planned. That's the right approach."
On
Friday, 53 Israeli theater professionals, including performers, playwrights and
directors, signed a petition stating they would not appear in the West Bank
settlement Ariel, as working there would be "against their
consciences" and sent it to the directors-general of Israeli theaters.
Signatories
included prominent members of the Israeli theater community, including Yehoshua
Sobol, Yossi Pollak, Yousef Sweid, Anat Gov and Savyon Liebrecht. Veteran
Israeli actress and Israel Prize winner Gila Almagor did not sign the petition,
but said she would oppose performing in Ariel.
The
signatories wrote the petition in response to reports in the Israeli daily
Haaretz that a 40 million Israeli shekel ($10.5 million) cultural center was
slated to open in Ariel in November.
The
newspaper also reported that several of Israel's leading theater companies,
including the Habima National Theater, the Cameri Theater, the Be'er Sheva
Theater and Jerusalem's Khan Theater, were planning to perform at the new
cultural center in Ariel, which is home to around 17,000 occupiers.
Israeli
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said funding should be withdrawn from theaters
that refuse to perform in Ariel, adding that the government wanted the
settlement to remain part of Israel in any future peace agreement with the
Palestinians.
"The
state of Israel invests a lot of money in theaters. The taxes helping those
theaters exist are paid by Ariel's residents as well, and those who are
sabotaging this should not be employed in Israel," he said.
Steinitz
slammed the actors who signed the letter, saying it was "unthinkable that
Mr. Artist received money from the state to establish a theater, and then says,
'I'll perform in Tel Aviv, but won't perform in Ariel and other places.’"
Israeli
Knesset members of rightist parties, including the ruling party of Likud, said
that they would sponsor a bill canceling government funding of theaters
allowing performances by actors who participate in the boycott.
The
council of Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories (Yesha) issued a
statement saying: "Our response to the letter signed by the army evaders
and anti-Zionist left-wing activists will be very harsh." It called on
theater managements to act decisively.
Yosef Mor
Yosef, chairman of the student union in Ariel University, said that
"actors and artists should perform anywhere, to any audience, with no
distinction of religion, race, sex or political view."
He added
that the actors "are hurting us as young people seeking access to Israeli
culture." He also said that the union would consider boycotting the
artists who signed the letter.