Government in Israel increases cultural spending

By Lauren Gelfond Feldinger | Web only
Published online 7 Jan 09

JERUSALEM. The Israeli treasury approved in December an increase in the culture budget of 16m shekels (£3m) over three years. The agreement was signed in lieu of a culture bill that became moot when Israel’s parliament went into recess unexpectedly in late October, after Israel’s prime minister resigned and the government failed to form a coalition. Orthodox rabbi Michael Melchior, a Labour MK who heads parliament’s education committee, sponsored the private bill last year to raise the culture budget, following Unesco’s recommendations for member states to have culture budgets that are 1% of the national budget. At the time, Israel’s budget was around 0.2%. The initial reading passed almost unanimously, but the bill will now have to be revised and resubmitted in three years, according to the agreement. Culture proponents are saying the agreement is significant in light of the financial situation, where many budget cuts were expected. “[But] the struggle is not over,” said culture minister Ghaleb Majadle. “A country that doesn’t invest in culture is a country without a soul.”