Israel Prize laureate Zubin Mehta slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel's "occupation" of Palestine in an interview with India Today, calling on people in the arts to speak out on political issues.
The comments were shown during a preview of the interview earlier this week, with the full interview slated to be broadcast on India's Republic Day, January 26.
The interviewer asked Mehta whether he believed that music could be separated from politics.
"I can't, and I never have," he answered, noting that many of his colleagues take the same view.
"I canceled all my engagements in Israel this year because of my objection to [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's way of treating the whole Palestinian issue," he noted.
"I hope that [Netanyahu's policy] finishes. I hope he is outvoted at the next election," he commented.
"We must, and we do [take a stand on political issues,]" he continued. "Many of my colleagues turn a blind eye, but I can't agree with them."
The interviewer noted that Mehta has been vocal about Israel's "occupation of Palestine" in the past, and that he stood up for Argentinian-born Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim, who faced boycotts from Israel's political echelon for producing compositions of German conductor Wagner in Israeli orchestras.
Barenboim notably took up Palestinian citizenship, and Wagner was a favored composer of Nazi leadership, including Adolf Hitler, for his usage of German mythological imagery and folklore.
"Do you believe a day would come when you would have an orchestra with Israelis and Palestinians together?" the interviewer asked.
"I have that now. I toured Spain, Italy, and Austria with an orchestra called the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra [co-founded by Barenboim and Palestinian political activist Edward Said] made of Israelis and Palestinians who sit together, get along well, and make music without any problems."
He also commented that he never knew what antisemitism was in India until he moved to Vienna and his landlord told him he could not invite Jewish friends to his house.
Zubin Mehta's ties with Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, special Israel Prize award
Mehta worked as the musical director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra for approximately 50 years.
Mehta was awarded an Israel Prize, the state's highest civilian honor, as a special prize awarded to a non-Israeli in "recognition of his devotion to Israel and the IPO" in 1991.
The prize usually requires Israeli citizenship, residency, or is granted to worldwide Jewish organizations. Mehta is one of the few non-Israeli nationals in the prize's history to receive the award.