Israeli rocker Shalom Hanoch opens the 2015 Israel Festival Thursday night in the open-air Sultan’s Pool theater overlooking the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City.
But the 68-year-old singer made headlines prior to his Thursday performance by objecting to Likud member Miri Regev’s announcement that she would be giving a speech before the singer took the stage, joining Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and longtime Israel Festival head Yossi Tal-Gan. Regev, a colorful right-wing personality, was recently appointed Minister of Culture and Sport, and as such received the festival organizer’s standard invitation.
Prior to the performance, Barkat introduces Regev to a largely booing and whistling crowd. Regev, reading from a prepared speech, calls the festival a “Zionist” enterprise and said there is no better place than the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem to hold the festival in that the city’s essentially reflects pluralism and multiculturalism.
“I love Shalom Hanoch,” and all the artists involved in the festival, says Regev, who continues that there is place for everyone here — Jews, Arabs, Christians — and that she is the minister of culture for all.
After a smattering of applause for Regev, Hanoch begins the show with his classic hit, “Adon btoch etsmo hu gar” or “A man lives within himself.”
—Amanda Borschel-Dan
The Israel Festival opens in Jerusalem on May 28, 2015 (Amanda Borschel-Dan/Times of Israel)
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
