Acting Director General of the Israel Land Authority cancels performance featuring women singing despite agreements
Yehuda Eliyahu, Acting Director General of the Israel Land Authority, has canceled a musical featuring women's singing for a Rosh Hashanah event. He had previously agreed with the union to provide an alternative, but reneged on the deal.
Contrary to an agreement with the Civil Service Union, Yehuda Eliyahu, Acting Director General of the Israel Land Authority, announced to the authority's employees this morning (Tuesday) that the musical "Biglal HaRuach" featuring songs by Shlomi Shabat will not be part of the artistic program at the Rosh Hashanah event taking place in about two weeks.
About a week ago, Eliyahu, a man of the Religious Zionist movement and a close associate of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, canceled the performance because women sing in it. The angry backlash led to talks held yesterday between him and the Civil Service Union. In these talks, Eliyahu agreed to reinstate the performance, while simultaneously holding an alternative event tailored for tradition-observing employees who would not want to watch the musical.
However, this morning Eliyahu sent a letter to the employees announcing that the Shlomi Shabat musical would not be presented at the employee event, apparently due to technical issues. Sources in the Israel Land Authority with whom we spoke say that this morning's announcement sparked anger among employees and a feeling that Eliyahu had deceived them.
Eliyahu's decision to cancel the musical's presentation at the event was made because it includes women's singing, which contradicts his Halachic worldview. Eliyahu even adopts a strict approach that prohibits not only solo singing by women but also their participation in a choir. This new policy, which was revealed a week ago, sparked anger among employees and led to sharp reactions and a threat by Ofir Alkalay, Chairman of the Civil Service Union, to take legal action against the decision.
At the same time, Hagit Pe'er, Chairwoman of Na'amat, addressed a letter to Civil Service Commissioner Doron Cohen, with a copy to, among others, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. Pe'er wrote that "the decision constitutes a serious infringement on women, their exclusion and discrimination," and requested that the Civil Service Commission intervene and determine categorically that discrimination and exclusion based on gender are prohibited at official events in the civil service. Pe'er also argues that the decision to cancel the performance is not within Eliyahu's authority because he serves only as a temporary acting director, after the Supreme Court disqualified his appointment.
In light of these developments, talks were held yesterday between representatives of the Civil Service Union and Eliyahu, and it was decided, as mentioned, that the event would be held in a split format, with the beginning and end of the event attended by all employees. In the artistic part, the event will be split so that parallel to the musical, an activity adapted for employees who do not wish to watch it will take place.
In his letter to employees this morning, Eliyahu explained that "holding the event in a split format is not possible due to limitations beyond our control." A check by Calcalist reveals that the problem Eliyahu is citing is that on the planned date, the musical is being performed at another event. However, Eliyahu did not wait and did not allow for the exhaustion of talks with the musical's production in an attempt to find another suitable date. The alternative Eliyahu chose is the play "Choco VeVanil," which deals satirically with racism. Although women participate in it, they do not sing.
