Miri Regev’s mistake with Ivri Lider

I don’t know who was the man who advised Miri Regev to choose former leader and Barviv a violinist to light a beacon, but wow, how much he should go home. It’s not that she didn’t lack headaches and crises to solve – say Amir Ohana – now she got involved with the wrong genre as well. Even before we discuss whether it is appropriate or not and who even – why should she even enter this angle, and in a year like this? And even more so when it comes precisely from someone who engraves on her banner the improvement of the cultural status of the second Israel, with what really changes: not talk, money and budgets.

Not too much time has passed since the announcement, and there have already been voices from the industry (some justified and some less so) about the choice of former leader and Raviv Kinner. Regev was the one who demanded to cut is bullshit, but she actually fell for the clichés and chose Leader to raise a beacon. It is impossible to examine the choice and not think that it is a flattery to the old elites, and an (not so successful) attempt not to stir up (more) uproar.

In any normal year, Hebrew Leader would probably be worthy of his contribution to Israeli culture, but in a year of war, when the reasoning is necessarily a contribution during the war, it’s a slip. And it’s not just a matter of sectarian origin, but rather genre. Haim Oliel is a worthy choice, except that it’s a bit like the trick they do at Galgalat: they play Shai Zabri or Dodo Tesa and then say that there are also Mizrahi artists. As mentioned, it is not the denomination that is important, but the genre.

During the war, we covered a lot of the various artists’ initiatives that appeared every day at IDF bases and hospitals, or donated equipment to the soldiers, and really there are a lot of names: Hanan Ben Ari, Omer Adam, Lior Narkis, Eyal Golan, Rinat Bar, Kobi Peretz, even his father Pankhasov (and here’s a secret: not only did they appear, there were also names like Yasmin Moalem, Ravid Plotnik or Tuna who appeared non-stop and contributed as much as they could, they just chose not to share) – either way, the choice of leader so screams the Israel of a decade ago. Before Miri Regev was the Minister of Culture, only artists of a certain type would be called to fly the flag for state events.

By the way, by the way it seems, Lider is already preparing an escape plan for himself: since yesterday, requests have been published that the artist received from fans who demand that he cancel the participation and take back his indirect support for the government that harms the rights of the LGBT community (who tells them?). It would not be surprising at all if He will take a step back, just like he did last August, when he was supposed to appear with Eyal Golan in the Zalman Shazer project.

Without insulting Kaner – it is clear to everyone that his choice came after Idan Amadi refused to take part already two months ago. Kiner contributed his part in the war in the best way possible, and served in the reserves (much more than we in the media have done in the last six months), but his place in the ceremony could also be taken by an “ordinary” fighter who does not know the spotlight.

The most terrible thing that the minister did was to actually open the competition discussions of who did more and for whom. It’s no secret that the Mediterranean genre is the most popular and popular genre in the country, and it’s only natural that if someone is chosen to represent the world of culture and music, he will be from the most popular genre in the country, right? If she hadn’t chosen an “active” artist like Lider, no one would have said a word, responsibly. But in the current situation, if Omer Adam, Hanan Ben Ari, Lior Narkis and half of the industry were offended, they can be understood.

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