Israeli culture minister to propose 'loyalty bill' in bid to control artistic funding Bill would enhance her ministry's power and allow it to condition funding for institutions on their allegiance to the state and respect for its symbols.

By Yair Ashkenazi and Jonathan Lis

New legislation being proposed by Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev would authorize her ministry to cut off government funding to institutions that attack Israel and its symbols. Regev says she wants both to end her ministry’s role as an “ATM” that dispenses money but wields no influence over the content produced by the state­funded institutions, and to invest the ministry with more power to supervise their activities. 

Under current law, the finance minister is allowed to stop allocations to organizations that oppose the existence of Israel as the national home of the Jewish people, support terrorism or disrespect national symbols.

The attorney general has ruled that the Culture Ministry does not have the authority to condition financial support for institutions on the content they present.

 Regev is due to present her new legislation, which she calls the “cultural loyalty” law, at a meeting of the Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee on Wednesday. She says its aim is “for the first time, to make support for a cultural institution dependent on its loyalty to the State of Israel.”

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