Israel prize judges resign after Binyamin Netanyahu's 'political' intervention

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Israel prize judges resign after Binyamin Netanyahu's 'political' intervention

Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem
Thursday 12 February 2015 13.56 GMT

Israel’s most prestigious award, the Israel prize, has been plunged into controversy after the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, intervened to remove three prominent judges of whose politics he disapproves.

Netanyahu has been accused of declaring war on the country’s intellectual life, and a series of judges – including the entire literature panel – and candidates for the award’s different fields have resigned or withdrawn their candidacy amid fears that this year’s literature prize may not take place.

Set up to award excellence in the arts, science and broader cultural and social contributions, the Israel prize is one of the country’s most venerable intellectual institutions. Inaugurated in 1953, it is handed out on Israel’s Independence Day with a $20,000 award in each category.

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Since it was revealed this week that the prime minister’s office had intervened to block two judges for the literature prize and one for the theatre award the prize has been plunged into an escalating row, with Netanyahu publicly accusing some prize judges of being extremists and “anti-Zionists” who award the honour to their friends.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/12/israel-prize-judges-resign-binyamin-netanyahu-political-intervention

[Israeli]

1. He is losing it ....

http://972mag.com/netanyahu-is-losing-it/102506/

The fourth would-be Israeli Prize judge resigned in protest.

Perhaps it is because he feels under attack, perhaps it is an electoral tactic, maybe it is just an act or maybe he is personally and politically isolated and therefore becoming paranoid. What is sure, however, is that from his belligerence toward the White House to his attacks against political opponents, Netanyahu is losing it.

David Grossman withdraws from Israel Prize in protest of Netanyahu's interference

Six high-profile candidates have now withdrawn their candidacies, including Ruth Dayan and writers Haim Be'er and Sami Michael.

Award-winning novelist David Grossman on Thursday withdrew his candidacy for this year’s Israel Prize in Literature. Grossman made his decision due to Benjamin Netanyahu’s “incitement” against Israel’s “senior scientists and authors,” he told Channel 2.

“Netanyahu’s move is a cynical and destructive ploy that violates the freedom of spirit, thought and creativity of Israel, and I refuse to cooperate with it,” said Grossman.

Also on Thursday, the last remaining judge on the jury for the Israel Prize in literary research resigned, leaving nobody to choose the prize winner. Prof. Ephraim Hazan’s resignation follows those submitted earlier this week by the panel’s other members: Prof. Nissim Calderon, Prof. Nurith Gertz, Prof. Ziva Ben-Porat and Dr. Uri Hollander.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.642320

[Israeli]

2. PM backtracks on dismissal of Israel Prize judges

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4626035,00.html

Two prominent Israeli authors have pulled out from the race for Israel’s most prestigious literary prize amid claims of political intervention by the prime minister’s office.

Israeli authors Yitzhak Ben-Ner and Haim Be'er announced on Tuesday their decision to remove their nomination after the PMO disqualified two Israel Prize for Literature jury panel members, professors Avner Holtzman and Ariel Hirschfeld, in a move that had some members of the Israeli literary community claim that Prime Minister Netanyahu is trying to prevent Israeli author David Grossman from receiving the prize because of his leftwing political views.

“I have no intention of receiving the Israel Prize after what was done. It’s a stain on the award,” Be’er said yesterday, adding that the PMO made a frivolity out of the humanities. “Netanyahu did it on purpose, perhaps out of political motivation, in order to show the right-wing that he was standing against the leftist establishment members. No one has awarded me the prize yet, but even if it was offered to me, I still wouldn’t take it.”

Pundit Yaron London suggests, meanwhile, that the decision to disqualify Holtzman and Hirschfield may have come to prevent author David Grossman, a noted left-wing activist who is highly critical of Israeli policy towards the Palestinians, from winning the award.