Skip to main content

Can Israel's culture minister provoke her way to the top?

Culture Minister Miri Regev has perfected a strategy of deliberately outraging Israeli audiences to boost her standing within her party.
Israel's Culture Minister Miri Regev arrives to the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem June 21, 2015. REUTERS/Dan Balilty/Pool - RTX1HFQD
Read in 

Under the headline “War Movie,” Yedioth Ahronoth on Sept. 25 offered its readers no less than eight editorials in response to Culture Minister Miri Regev’s commotion du jour. This time it occurred at the Sept. 23 Ophir Awards, often called the “Israeli Oscars.” For the sake of balance, half the editorials praised Regev, who walked out of the film awards ceremony when a poem by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish was performed. The rest of the respondents focused on Regev’s populism, hypocrisy and divisiveness and the misinformation she employed.

Obviously, Yedioth Ahronoth wasn’t the only newspaper to cover the uproar in a manner typically reserved for shocking major events, although it was just another provocation. In fact, it was nothing more than yet another drop in a steady stream of invective, in which Regev stands alone against the elites, the left, Ashkenazim (Jews of European origin), Arabs and, of course, the media.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.