Education Minister Naftali Bennett has ordered that his ministry stop paying for high school students preparing for their military service to see a play that ministry officials say portrays IDF soldiers as war criminals.
The play "The Admission" was added to the basket of cultural activities the Education Ministry provides 11th- and 12th-grade students last May. Its plot centers on a young Jewish professor who is confronted with an Arab family's accusations that his father was involved in the killing of their relatives and the expulsion of some of their village's residents during the 1948 War of Independence.
According to the website of the Arab-Hebrew Theater, where the play is now being performed, the script was inspired by the 1948 conquest of the Arab village of Tantura by IDF forces and by "the dispute among a number of Israeli historians as to the possibility that during the conquest IDF soldiers carried out a massacre of village residents."
The play has been harshly criticized by bereaved families and external organizations, who say it depicts IDF soldiers as murderers. Critics say the play is based upon events that never took place and warn that students may believe this false misrepresentation of what transpired.
After receiving a number of complaints, Bennett instructed Education Ministry Director General Shmuel Abuav to appoint a committee to examine the play and its suitability for school students. After watching and discussing the play, committee members concluded it was not an appropriate cultural event for students.
Committee members said that while it would have been best not to have included the play in the culture basket to begin with, the potential damage caused by its removal would be greater than the benefit, and recommended that it be kept in the basket.
However, Bennett rejected the committee's recommendation.
"The education system will not raise its graduates on fabricated stories that are without historical basis," he said.
According to the committee's report, the play depicts a Tantura resident called Ibrahim telling the story of the supposed massacre to his son Azami.
"For two whole days, I hid there among the destroyed houses. Then I escaped here. Here too, soldiers roamed the streets, shooting everyone who returned and anyone who wanted only to take something from their home," Ibrahim says.
In a statement to Israel Hayom, Bennett said that "after conducting a thorough examination of the subject, I decided to instruct those responsible in the ministry to remove 'The Admission' from the Education Ministry's culture basket. Those who depict IDF soldiers as war criminals lose their right to meet with Israel's students. Culture, yes. Lies, no."
