Avraham B. Yehoshua, one of Israel's most revered and prolific novelists and a vocal supporter of Palestinian rights, has died aged 85, Tel Aviv's Ichilov hospital said Tuesday.Yehoshua, who was born in Jerusalem in 1936 to parents with roots in Greece and Morocco, published his first collection of short stories in 1963.Decades of critically-acclaimed writing saw him win a string of international awards and his works translated into more than 30 languages.
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Israel Prize recipient Michal Bat-Adam attends the award ceremony in Jerusalem, prior to Israel s 73 Independence Day, on April 11, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
The annual ceremony granting the Israel Prize, the country’s most prestigious award, to eight recipients was broadcast on Thursday, Israel’s Independence Day, under the pall of a controversial decision by the education minister to block one nominee due to his political views.
President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin and High Court President Esther Hayut attended the ceremony. The event took place in Jerusalem’s International Convention Center earlier this week and was broadcast on Thursday night at the close of Independence Day.
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Apr. 15, 2021 8:56 PM
The Israel Prize ceremony for this year was broadcast on Thursday, amid controversy over Education Minister Yoav Gallant s successful request to withhold the Israel Prize for mathematics from its planned recipient over alleged support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
The ceremony was filmed on Sunday in Jerusalem, a few days after the High Court of Justice ruled that Gallant had 30 days to justify his decision to deny Prof. Oded Goldreich the prize because he allegedly supports the BDS movement – which Goldreich denies.
The winner of the Israel Prize for cinema, Michal Bat-Adam, said upon receiving the prize that she was dismayed that there were only eight winners, because one winner is missing.
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Education Minister Yoav Gallant, at the Ministry of Education in Jerusalem on May 18 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
Five of the eight winners this year of Israel’s most prestigious prize are protesting the government’s decision to withhold the award from a scholar over his political views.
Israel’s top court on Thursday upheld Education Minister Yoav Gallant’s move to temporarily block Oded Goldreich from receiving this year’s Israel Prize in mathematics and computer science over claims he supports the Palestinian-led international boycott movement targeting Israel, allegations he denies.
In a letter to Gallant, literature scholar Nitza Ben-Dov, filmmaker Michal Bat-Adam, bible scholar Yair Zakowitz, poet Nurit Zarchi and biochemist Eli Keshet lamented what they described as the politicization of the honor, according to the Kan public broadcaster.