The Ministerial Committee on Legislation voted Sunday in favor of a bill that would allow the culture minister to withhold funding for cultural organizations "that are undermining state principles."
The committee also decided to expedite the bill, sponsored by Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev and backed by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, and plans to present it for a cabinet vote in the next few weeks, ahead of presenting it for its first Knesset reading.
The so-called "culture loyalty bill" would allow the government to pull funding from organizations or events that deny Israel is a Jewish, democratic state; incite to racism, violence, or terrorism; express support for the armed struggle or acts of terrorism against Israel by an enemy state or a terrorist organization; mark Israel's Independence Day as a day of mourning; or deface the flag or any other state symbol in any way.
The bill effectively seeks to link cultural content and artistic expression to state funding, something previously blocked by the courts.
It also gives the Culture Ministry, rather than the Finance Ministry, the authority to deny funding to organizations deemed in violation of any of its criteria.
Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit had initially blocked the bill, warning that it constituted "a serious risk to freedom of speech." He allowed Sunday's vote to go ahead on condition that the bill's language be revised.
"I'm glad that a long struggle that lasted two years has come to an end," Regev said after the vote.
"Freedom of expression is a central value in Israel as a democratic state, but preserving the freedom of expression does not give anyone permission to incite against the Jewish and democratic State of Israel."
Opposition lawmakers lambasted the committee for advancing the bill.
"The demand for loyalty in art is another step in silencing expression and forcing culture to be a mouthpiece for the government," Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni (Zionist Union) criticized.
Meretz leader Tamar Zandberg accused Regev of "wanting to become the chief censor and the head of the thought police" and said Regev "has no interest in promoting culture, only in the suppression of freedom of creativity and free thought."
Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai vowed to provide funds from his city's municipal budget for any institution harmed if the bill becomes law.
"This bill means to muzzle critics and it is prompted by a government that doesn't understand that without freedom of expression, there will be no Israeli culture at all," he said in a statement.
Ahead of the vote, dozens of intellectuals and artists signed a petition against the bill.
"If this law is enacted, it will allow the government to withhold public funding for any type of cultural activity based purely on political considerations," the petition read.
"Israeli society is a strong and democratic society, whose resilience also depends on its ability to maintain a diverse conversation that respects a wide range of views and opinions.
"The funding of the arts is required to ensure an established space of thought and creativity for the greater good of Israeli society as a whole."
