More than 100 prominent Israeli writers and poets signed a petition Saturday calling for a plan to curb the independence of Israel’s national library by allowing the government to determine the makeup of the library’s board.
“We resolutely oppose any political interference in the election of the Writers and Poets Library leadership and demand the continued professional and independent functioning of the library,” they wrote.
Signatories include David Grossman, Eli Amir, Haim Beers and Fania Oz-Salzberger.
The petition warned that if the government proceeded with this step, they would refuse to donate their archives to the library or allow their publishers to hand over copies of their books.
The petition also reiterated his opposition to other government plans, including the closure of the Cannes public broadcaster and an overhaul of the judiciary.
On Friday, the government put forward Education Minister Yoav Kish’s bill, titled “Increasing Transparency and Public Oversight of the National Library,” as part of a legislative package with the state budget, which both approved.
Along with the rest of the budget and economics arrangement bill, the proposal – which the chairman of the library’s board of trustees has warned represents a real threat to the institution’s continued existence – must still be approved by the Knesset, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing religious coalition holds a majority of the seats.
Education Minister Yoav Kish (right) arriving at the replacement ceremony for outgoing Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton (not seen) at the Ministry of Education in Jerusalem on January 1, 2023. (Olivier Fitoucil/Flash90)
During cabinet deliberations on the budget, Kish and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, both members of Netanyahu’s Likud party, argued with Attorney General Gali Bahrav-Miara as he pushed back against the proposal, saying it should include could not be done because it did not go through the appropriate professional and legal procedures, according to the Ynet news site.
It was also said that she had raised issues with the proposal itself, questioning Kisch’s stated goal of increasing transparency and public oversight, and objecting to a clause that would allow the current board to vote within 30 days after the bill is passed. till the end of the term of the members of the In law, “an order that in practice allows for the firing of a board by way of law.”
Attorney General Ghali Baharav-Miara attending a conference at the University of Haifa on December 15, 2022. (Shir Torem/Flash90)
Hebrew media reports on the bill say that right-wing politicians have been targeting the library for the past year following the appointment of former state attorney Shai Nitzan as library rector.
Nitzan was heavily involved in framing the corruption charges against Netanyahu. During the prime minister’s investigation into three corruption investigations, and especially since the filing of the charges against him – bribery, breach of trust and fraud – Netanyahu and his allies have been criticized.
Nitzan is portrayed by the Prime Minister’s aides, without any evidence, as a left-wing activist bent on removing the Premier from office through illegitimate means.
Former State’s Attorney Shai Nitzan speaking at the Calculist conference in Tel Aviv on December 31, 2019. (Miriam Ulster/Flash90)
The government approved the bill on Friday, a day after Sallai Meridor, chairman of the Israel National Library’s board of directors, publicly came out against the measure.
Meridor, Israel’s former ambassador to the US, said, “The greatest asset of the National Library is the public trust to which private individuals deposit their works and collections for the benefit of the entire public and for the benefit of future generations.” “The damage to public trust would jeopardize the continued deposit of the national treasure in Jerusalem.”
Meridor said, “In these days of division and damage to the reputation of the State of Israel, it is shocking that they plan to undermine such an important consensus, while seriously undermining a national treasure so important to the public.” harming from.” This move will put the library in the circle of politicians.
The National Library of Israel was established in 1892 as a world center for the preservation of the spiritual treasures of the Jewish people. In 2007, the Knesset enacted the National Library Law, granting it independent status by law, in order to document cultural creation in the State of Israel and to provide the general public free access to the unique collections housed there.
“An attempt to change legislation that was exclusively legislated and with wide agreement – without consultation with the professionals responsible for the library and its partners – represents a gross intervention that threatens the very existence of the National Library, A treasure of the Jewish people through the generations and a repository of Israeli culture,” Meridor said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu helps lay the new cornerstone of the National Library while National Library Chairman David Bloomberg, Speaker of the Knesset Yuli Edelstein, and President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Menachem Ben-Sasson look on, April 5, 2016. (courtesy : albatross)
Netanyahu has spoken in the past about the importance of an independent library.
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new library building in 2016, Netanyahu called it “a center of culture, intellectual freedom, knowledge and progress, which is no small feat in the Middle East.”
“The National Library is part of our pluralistic society. In a place where Islamic fundamentalists are destroying cultural treasures, we cultivate a culture of the soul,” he said.
His attempts to radically change the process for appointing judges came amid widespread opposition to the government’s attempts to take control of the library, part of a wider and radical judicial overhaul.
Critics say the move would undermine Israel’s democracy and harm its economy and security.
