As the number of positive COVID-19 cases rises dramatically in Israel, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Culture Minister Chili Tropper and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz met at the Habima National Theater in Tel Aviv on Tuesday afternoon with senior figures from the culture industry – among them artists and producers – to discuss possible further restrictions on the culture sector.
The sector was one of the hardest hit by the pandemic and has just begun to recover. Further restrictions could be a serious blow to this fragile recovery.
N12 reported that the meeting was initiated by Tropper and Bennett and that one big issue on the table was whether to renew the use of the green pass regulation for cultural events, where only those who can show that they have the green pass certificate designating that they are vaccinated or have recovered can enter events. This was used in the early spring but is no longer required at cultural events.
One problem with going back to green pass rules is that children, who do not receive the vaccines yet, cannot take part in cultural events.
At the beginning of the meeting, N12 reported that Tropper emphasized that the meeting took place in a positive atmosphere of mutual respect, a veiled reference to the difference between this administration and the previous one under former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “There is a different and new discourse here. Thank you to the prime minister and the health minister who listen to us and love culture and sports. They care. They are doing everything to prevent harm to our worlds. It’s in a completely different place,” Tropper said.
Bennett said: “We do not want to close, we want to be attentive to the people who work in culture. We do not come all closed off, we came to hear from you. We are in favor of the green pass, we will soon understand what the possibility of doing this entails.”
Noam Semel, Habima’s CEO, added: “This is a historic meeting. There has never been one like this before and it is blessed.”
A movie industry executive said: “This is going to choke our summer movie season, unless people are allowed to attend movies with their kids. Remember, movie theaters don’t get government subsidies like the theaters do.” He said he hoped that the Health Ministry would bring back the purple-tag option, so that there could be movie screenings for children, even if each screening must be smaller, although he said he strongly preferred that no further restrictions be put in place.