Yona Elian, a respected Israeli actress, became the seventh to announce her resignation from an Israel Prize judges panel on Wednesday, in protest over the dismissal of two judges by the Prime Minister's Office. Elian served on the panel that hands out the prize for film, while the two dismissed judges, Professors Avner Holtzman and Ariel Hirschfeld, were judges for the literature prize. No official reason was given for the dismissal of the two judges. Renowned authors Yigal Schwartz, Yitzhak Ben-Ner and Haim Be'er announced they had withdrawn their candidacies for the prize, also in protest. In a letter to the Israel Prize committee, Ben-Ner wrote: "I would like to withdraw my candidacy for the prize in protest over the executive branch's heavy-handed interference, making the distribution of the Israel Prize crudely line up with the personal tastes of the prime minister and his advisers. Please acknowledge my notice, and return to me all the forms I sent in and all the copies of my book." The university heads' committee issued a statement on the matter, saying: "We condemn any attempt to disqualify judges or candidates over their political views. Doing so could prompt the most worthy judges and candidates to avoid the competition altogether." Meretz also issued a statement, saying that "just like under totalitarian regimes, in Netanyahu's Bibistan [a reference to Netanyahu's nickname], 'balanced' means anyone who falls in line with the dictator's policies." The Movement for Quality Government in Israel has petitioned the prime minister to reconsider his decision. On Wednesday, Netanyahu defended his decision, writing on his Facebook page: "Over the years, the individuals appointed to the selection committee have become progressively more extreme in their views, including individuals with clearly anti-Zionist views -- like those who support insubordination and refusal to serve in the IDF. Not enough members authentically represent large portions of the people who hold different views. All too often, it seems that the extremist committee members hand out the prizes to their friends, in a nepotistic way. Anyone not affiliated with their way of thinking, not a part of the clique, has a very difficult time integrating into the selection committee or receiving the prize. This situation ... has to change. Because the Israel Prize is for the entire people of Israel." Sources in the Prime Minister's Office said the two judges were disqualified because "after it emerged that one of the candidates to serve on the committee supports military insubordination, it was decided to re-examine all the appointments." Though the sources did not name anyone, the reference was to Hirschfeld who has previously signed a petition calling on soldiers to refuse orders and refrain from serving in Judea and Samaria. Due to the wave of resignations, the Israel Prize may not be distributed this year.
PM defends decision to dismiss Israel Prize judges amid controversy
As judges resign from Israel Prize panels and authors withdraw candidacies in protest over the dismissal, Netanyahu says, "Over the years, the individuals appointed to the selection committee have become progressively more extreme in their views."
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