High Court vetoes Miri Regev West Bank performance bonuses
Regev had argued that funding can be separated out from freedom of speech since no one was actually forcing groups to perform or not perform in the West Bank.
By YONAH JEREMY BOBMiri Regev arrives at a weekly cabinet meeting, March 3rd, 2019(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
The High Court of Justice on Wednesday vetoed Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev’s rules designed to provide bonuses for artists who perform specifically in the West Bank.By a 2-1 vote of High Court President Esther Hayut and Vice President Hanan Melcer against Justice David Mintz, they said that it was an unconstitutional infringement on freedom of speech to link government funding of the arts to this kind of a geographic and political issue.Regev had argued that funding can be separated out from freedom of speech since no one was actually forcing groups to perform or not perform in the West Bank.The High Court sidestepped the issue of the part of Regev’s rules which were designed to penalize the funding of those groups which refused to perform in the West Bank.It said it did not need to rule on that issue because after the High Court petition was filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) in 2016, Regev never actually carried out the rule and never fined any artists.Regarding those artists who had already received bonuses as part of the rules, the High Court said they would not need to return the money as they were basically third parties who were merely acting in good faith and got caught in the middle of a political dispute to which they were not really a party to.The High Court also ordered the state to pay ACRI NIS 25,000 for its legal fees related to the petition.
