Ministers advance bill conditioning arts funding on ‘loyalty’

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation votes to advance a bill that would allow the government to withhold funding for cultural “organizations that are working against the principles of the state.”

The decision fast-tracks the legislation introduced by Culture Minister Miri Regev and supported by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon.

The law will allow the government to withhold funding from organizations or events that present any of five topics: denying the State of Israel is a Jewish, democratic country; inciting racism, violence, or terror; supporting the armed struggle or acts of terror against Israel by an enemy state or a terror group; marking Israel’s Independence Day as a day of mourning; any act of destruction or physical degradation of the flag of the state or any state symbol.

Left-wing lawmakers have slammed the move, with Knesset opposition leader Tzipi Livni saying the “demand for loyalty in art is another step in silencing expression and forcing culture to be a mouthpiece for the government.”