In the shadow of the Corona crisis, the Ministries of Finance, Culture and Sports have agreed on a package of assistance to the world of culture for the months of January-February, totaling about NIS 100 million.
According to the joint announcement, the assistance will include support for actors, stage workers, independent artists, artists appearing in a cultural basket, children's performances, cultural institutions and cultural halls.
The people of the world of culture were quick to congratulate the aid, and in the players' organization (Shaham) only the Minister of Culture, Hili Trooper, thanked for the "tremendous effort" he put in: "This is a positive progress.
We thank the Minister for the tremendous effort he put into formulating the outline.
In the coming days, we will learn the small print of the outline and make sure that the money goes to those who really need it. "
Minister of Culture and Sports Hili Trooper, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
But not everyone is happy, and the announcement of the aid package to the world of culture provoked angry reactions in other industries that were left out.
This is how the events industry reacted, for example, to the outline presented: "Shame - continue to give to those who always receive. Starting tonight, a tent city will be built outside Lieberman's house - it's a struggle for our lives, and we will go here to the end."
A statement from the events industry added that "the outline published has caused great outrage among the independent public, as the government again chooses to give funds to institutional bodies supported by it anyway, while continuing to abandon entire industries that experience 100 percent cancellation, and receive no response."
Despite the demand of the chairman of the Economics Committee, MK Michael Bitton, and the chairman of the Labor and Welfare Committee, Efrat Reitan-Marom, according to which the Ministry of Finance must formulate a compensation outline within ten days, work on it has not yet begun.
The Ministry of Finance is still in favor of waiting until the end of the quarter to decide who is entitled to compensation and to what extent, and until then, specific assistance will be given to the two most severely affected industries - tourism, which already receives assistance, and culture.
Advocate Uriel Lin, president of the Association of Chambers of Commerce, said: "Compensation should not be given on an industry basis, but at the level of the individual business and every business in Israel that has been affected by the ongoing crisis."
He added: "The important and crucial test when it comes to providing compensation, whether it is a business company or self-employed or employees, is the degree of harm, and it does not matter at all which industry in the economy they belong to. The decisive criterion must be based on fairness and equality. .
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