Haaretz Corrects Again About Nakba Law

For the third time, CAMERA has prompted a Haaretz correction on Israel’s so-called “Nakba Law,” which enables the state’s Finance Minister to withhold funding from state-funded bodies which commemorate the founding of Israel as a catastrophe, or Nakba.

A review by Naama Riba about a Haifa art exhibit erred both in print on Dec. 14 and online here (“In controversial new exhibit ‘1948,’ fusing Palestinian and Jewish narratives,”) stating: “Israeli law forbids discussion of the Palestinian catastrophe as such in public instutions [sic].”

The law does not forbid discussion of the Nakba in public institutions. Rather, it narrowly enables Israel’s Finance Minister to withhold government funding from state-funded bodies engaged in activities which reject the existence of the state of Israel as a Jewish state. The law does not prohibit bodies which do receive government funds from marking the Nakba. It merely gives the government the right to withhold funding if the state-funded body does mark the Nakba. (Indeed, the Finance Minister is not required to withhold funding under these circumstances. As Haaretz has reported: “Treasury Rejects All 98 Appeals to Enforce the ‘Nakba Law.“)

Israeli law enables Israel’s Finance Minister to withhold government funding from state-funded bodies which mark the date of Israel’s establishment as a day of mourning.

In addition, the following correction is amended to the bottom of the article, alerting readers to the change. It states:

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the Nakba Law forbids discussion of the Palestinian ‘catastrophe’ in public institutions. Rather, the law enables Israel’s Finance Minister to withhold government funding from state-funded bodies which mark the date of Israel’s establishment a day of mourning.