Police to investigate artist who put flag in his behind at 'Haaretz' conference

Investigation was opened Monday after police received a complaint about the act.

By BEN HARTMAN
Updated: MARCH 8, 2016 01:08
A man with an Israeli flag takes part in a march through Paris (photo credit: REUTERS)
A man with an Israeli flag takes part in a march through Paris
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Tel Aviv police questioned an artist who inserted a flag into his rear end during a performance at the Haaretz Culture Conference on Sunday in Tel Aviv.
Police said artist Ariel Bronz was released after questioning.
The district spokeswoman said the investigation was opened Monday after police received a complaint about the act, which was widely covered in the press and on social media the day before.
Police said the investigation will focus on the offense of desecrating a national symbol.
Though the flag was described both as an Israeli flag and simply as a white flag, closer examination of photos from the event show that it was a white flag with a faint blue outline of a star of David and the outline of two faint blue lines, like the Israeli flag.
Bronz was forced off the stage after he put the flag into his posterior, which came after he was booed by attendees and threw two oranges into the crowd.
In November 2014, police arrested performance artist Natali Cohen Vaxberg after she published a video of herself defecating on a number of national flags, including that of Israel. She could potentially face an indictment for desecrating a national symbol.