NOVANEWS
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Culture Ministry Reiterates: No Funding for Institutes Supporting Boycott, Nakba
Three weeks after AG says state cannot defund cultural institutes based on content, ministry publishes grant criteria.
By: Yair Ashkenazi
Haaretz
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Israel’s Culture and Sports Ministry sent out a memorandum on Wednesday to cultural institutes reiterating the different criteria governing financial state support ahead of 2016. Alongside administrative procedures for requesting funding from the ministry, the memo also focused on articles in the law that allow to deny funding on the basis of defamation of state symbols.
The news came a number of weeks after Culture Minister Miri Regev announced that she intended to change the criteria for government support for cultural institutions, a move which the Attorney General’s office said was not legal, claiming state funding could not be conditioned on cultural content.
Nonetheless, the memo cites Article 3b of the basis of the Budget Law, which stipulates that the state can withdraw funding to those denying Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish and democratic nation; incite to terror, violence or racism; express support of an armed struggle or acts of terror by enemy states or terror organizations against the State of Israel; presents Israel’s Independence Day as a day of mourning (such as the Palestinian Nakba Day); and defames – psychically or otherwise – of state symbols, like the flag.
The memo, which only reiterated past criteria, stressed that before any defunding can take place, the finance minister must attain a legal opinion from the attorney general attesting to the existence of any such activity.
Another article cited in the memo was article 4 of the Boycott Law which states that any body that openly calls for a boycott of Israel can lose its status as a state-funded cultural body. In this case too, the finance ministry must attain the support of the justice minister and culture minister before proceeding to revoke their permit.
In addition, the minister was said to be intending to limit the validity of the existing funding criteria for cultural institutions until the end of 2015, and was said to be planning to introduce new criteria, starting in 2016. This will give priority to institutions in the periphery and various population groups, based on her policies, and could also include increased funding for Arab culture.
In response, the ministry said: “The memo clarifies that the state and ministry have the authority to fine organizations found to be subverting against state officials, symbols and values as a Jewish and democratic state.
