Cultural figures voice anger in Knesset committee hearing

Representatives of the cultural sector said they had gotten used to empty promises.

By HANNAH BROWN
Street performers take part in a protest calling for financial support from the Israeli government at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, following the lockdown Israel has been in order to prvevent the spread of the Coronavirus, on May 20, 2020. (photo credit: MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90)
Street performers take part in a protest calling for financial support from the Israeli government at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, following the lockdown Israel has been in order to prvevent the spread of the Coronavirus, on May 20, 2020.
(photo credit: MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90)
There was at least a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel in an emotional and often stormy discussion before the Knesset Coronavirus Committee on Monday, where many prominent cultural figures spoke of hardships the sector is enduring and demanded to be allowed to return to work.
More than 200,000 culture workers have been unemployed – many of them independent and not eligible for government grants – for approximately five months. Theaters and museums were allowed to reopen briefly, but the vast majority of artists and support staff of all kinds have been sidelined since March.
Committee chairwoman Yifat Shasha-Biton (Likud) struggled to contain the participants’ anger as actors, theater directors and other culture professionals spoke about their hardships.
Health Ministry associate director-general Itamar Grotto said there was a chance the cultural sector could reopen soon under new regulations, which are currently being formulated.
“We are seeing some stabilization in the rate of infection,” he said. “There is an opportunity here to make a change... The Health Ministry is trying to see how we can help these places.” In a day or two, the new order about reopening would be ready and would be submitted soon, he added.
Representatives of the cultural sector said they had gotten used to empty promises and spoke of their frustration that so many other sectors of society – such as restaurants, event halls, gyms and pools – had been able to operate throughout this period, but cultural institutions and venues have not.
Actor and stand-up comedian Israel Katorza gave the performance of a lifetime as he passionately questioned the treatment of the cultural sector by government officials.
“You closed us as if we were in an aquarium,” he said. “When my mother would punish me, she would tell me why. We did nothing here. You said before that artists can spit six meters from the stage. And people sitting with masks at a pool do not spit? In restaurants they do not spit? Let’s follow the procedures and stay open. You closed us even for 50 people. Are you serious? No one got infected. We did not ask for financial help. We asked to work.”
Recalling that he had played the Scarecrow in a stage production of The Wizard of Oz, Katorza said the treatment of the culture industry lacked “brains, courage and heart,” the qualities the wizard bestows on the characters at the end.
Tzipi Pines, director of the Beit Lessin Theater in Tel Aviv, said: “The ground is shaking. We are sitting in the house for five months, and there is no end date. The adage ‘the show must go on’ has lost meaning... If this continues, we will not be able to open ever.”
She hinted, as several participants did, that there was a possibility that if theaters were not allowed to open soon, the industry might defy government orders and open anyway.
Producer Guy Besser said: “We were quiet, we were polite, we followed all the rules... We realized too late they are making fun of us.”
Other participants from the cultural arena included actress Dalia Shimko; Danny Weiss, chairman of the Forum of Cultural Institutions; and Anat Radnai, CEO of the Independent Artists’ Association.
Shasha-Biton tried to reassure those who spoke and promised there would be action taken soon.
“Even today we are in a very difficult and complex war against a virus that we are still studying... [but] we will try to find a way to get the industry back on track,” she said.