If there is no last-minute turnaround, the Lapid-Bennett government is expected to confirm in about two weeks that it agrees to the policy of the European Union, which does not recognize the unity of Jerusalem and the sovereignty of Israel in the Golan Heights.
A week ago, an agreement regarding Israel's participation in the European Union program for cultural cooperation, "Creative Europe", was placed on the Knesset table.
The agreement states that Israel will pay NIS 33 million over the next five years to be included in the program, whose total budget is 2 billion euros.
The Ministry of Culture estimates that the profit for the Israeli cultural system will be tens of millions of shekels.
Minister of Culture Sports Trooper, photo: Olivia Fitosi/Flash 90
It should be noted that five years ago, the Minister of Culture at the time, Miri Regev, refused to approve the agreement, because of the political and discriminatory significance arising from it.
One of the conditions included in the agreement, at the request of the Europeans, is that it will not apply to the areas that Israel liberated in the Six Day War: the expanded Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, the Jordan Valley and the Golan Heights.
Miri Regev.
was denied the project, photo: I.P.I
The meaning of the condition is that the Union will not finance creators and cultural institutions that operate in these areas, and projects in the field of culture, which will be financially supported by the Union, will not be able to be presented in the excluded areas.
Thus, for example, it will not be possible to present a show that the Union will be a partner in budgeting for in the cultural halls of Katzrin, Ariel and Kiryat Arba.
The Kohalat Forum, which examined the agreement, emphasizes that it also creates discrimination among Israeli citizens, and not only among many creators.
"Spirit for BDS"
Ehrlich adds that the European program in the field of culture should not be compared to the science program "Horizon 2000", which Israel joined under the same conditions.
"In the Horizon program, Israel agreed to pay the political price because the benefit was enormous - partnership in a capital-intensive project, which allows Israel to be at the forefront of research and science.
The European Union.
The agreement will not apply beyond the borders of 67, photo: IPA
According to him, after the American recognition of the Golan and the establishment of an embassy in Jerusalem, "signing the current agreement gives a boost to the BDS elements, who seek to boycott Israel."
The response of the Ministry of Culture
The Ministry of Culture responded: "There is no change between the wording of the territorial clause stipulated in the Creative Europe Agreement and the manner of its implementation and the territorial clauses in the agreements signed between Israel and the European Union in the last decade, chief among them the Horizon Agreement from 2014 and the CBC Agreement from 2017, as well as Horizon 2021.
"In this context, it should be noted that the section includes an explicit statement that this does not harm Israel's principled position regarding the status of the areas that were brought under the administration of the State of Israel after June 5, 1967. As in the previous European programs, the agreement is only relevant to European funding arising from the program, and does not deal with any other activity Therefore, the agreement does not prevent cultural institutions or artists who will receive grants under the program from carrying out activities in the territories of Judea and Samaria and the Golan Heights (to the extent that this is not financed under the program).
"Regarding those cultural institutions or artists who will not be able to benefit from grants in the program due to the territorial clause, it should be emphasized that in accordance with Government Resolution 1607 of June 12, 2022, the government instructed the Ministry of Culture and Sports to formulate a mechanism for supporting cultural institutions that are not eligible for international grants due to their geographic location, similarly to the horizon".
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