Israeli ministry faces backlash for denying Jewish event funds over Arab anchor

The Jewish Culture Department of Israel’s Education Ministry canceled its financial support for an event organized last June celebrating the Jewish “Festival of Weeks” because of the participation of Arab Israeli broadcast journalist Lucy Aharish.

At the time, the organizers of the event were not told the reason the department walked back a 15,000-shekel grant. The cause first came to light two months ago, during an audit of government expenses. After the reasons for the denial were published, the organizers of the event appealed it. For the moment, the Jewish Culture Department is not budging.

The event was organized by the Megiddo Regional Council in the north of Israel. In the Jewish tradition, people study the bible through the night until the morning during the “Festival of Weeks.” Secular kibbutzim and villages organize all-night studies of Jewish tradition and of issues facing modern Israeli society.

Aharish, one of the most famous journalists in Israel, is married to a Jewish Israeli TV star Tzachi Halevi and they have a daughter together. Far-right activists have long criticized the couple, objecting to a Jewish man marrying a non-Jew.