movie-theatre-cc-by-BombmanMinister of Culture and Sport Miri Regev announced that the Film Review Board would examine whether there are grounds to cut Tel Aviv Cinematheque’s budget, because the Nakba Film Festival organised by Zochrot allegedly breaches the Budget Foundations Law. Now the Attorney General has made it clear that the Finance Minister is the only one with the authority on the subject.
The Deputy Attorney General, Dina Zilber, detailed in a letter to ACRI the formal process by which support to a cultural institution may be reduced due to incitement to violence or racism, or support for an armed act against Israel. According to the letter, the legal and official process is for the Minister of Finance – not the Minister of Culture and Sport – to establish a team of representatives from the Ministries of Finance, Justice and Culture. This did not happen, and therefore the Film Review Board is not an official inspection team according to official procedure.
In addition, the Deputy Attorney General clarified that amendments to the budget cannot be made in advance and cannot cause delay. If it is decided that there are grounds for cutting the budget according to the Budget Foundations Law, then the sanction can only be imposed retroactively. In any case, Zilber wrote that in order to violate the freedom of expression one must establish a significant claim, which in reality is very difficult.
“The only conclusion arising from Minister Regev’s conduct is that she is again trying to threaten the art community, and in particular the Nakba Film Festival, even though she has no authority on the subject,” said ACRI’s Chief Legal Counsel Dan Yakir, who petitioned Attorney Zilber. “Although it is clear that there are no grounds to examine the Nakba Film Festival, the Minister of Culture and Sport has achieved her goal of restricting artistic freedom and scaring artists from engaging with sensitive and controversial issues in Israeli society.”
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To read ACRI’s petition in Hebrew please click here.
