Culture Ministry freezes program that ran on Shabbat: We're examining the project

• Published date: 23 January 2023
• Publication title: Israel National News (Israel)

"Shabbat Yisraelit" is a program which allows the opening of museums and heritage sites on weekends, including on Shabbat, in such a way that the State of Israel rewards the sites based on the number of visitors

Giora Salz, head of the Upper Galilee Regional Council, spoke out against the decision and said, "At the end of last week, the director of the council's culture department received a message saying that the state will immediately stop subsidizing the events of the 'Weekend of Israeli Culture' project that will be held on Saturdays. Since the state subsidizes 90% of the cost of the events, this means the cancellation of a series of events intended for thousands of residents from the council's localities and the entire Upper Galilee."

The council also announced that the "Shabbat Yisraelit" initiative, which operates on Shabbat in four museums, will be frozen starting at the end of the month in favor of "organization and preparation."

The Ministry of Culture and Sports said in response, "The Ministry is currently examining the Shabbat Yisraelit project, which was an initiative of the previous Minister of Culture and Sports."

Minister of Culture and Sports Miki Zohar clarified, "I instructed my team to examine the various plans of the previous minister, among them the Shabbat Yisraelit plan, which also takes place on Shabbat, thus discriminating against the entire Shabbat-observant public."

"The ministry under my leadership does not interfere in the contents of funded entities, but at the same time...