'Actors' boycott on settlement Cultural Center will tear Israel apart'

Minister of Culture and Sport slams 36 actors, artists, who refuse to participate in productions at new theater in Ariel.

Minister of Culture and Sport Limor Livnat on Saturday responded harshly on Saturday to an announcement by 36 theater actors and staff who declared they would refuse to perform at a cultural center built in the settlement of Ariel.

"The theater directors should enlist immediately to address this crisis, since the actors and artists have decided to divide Israeli society," Livnat said.

The cultural center at the West Bank city of Ariel has been under construction for some 20 years, due to recurring funding shortages.

"This serious [boycott] creates a tear in the Israeli society and discriminates between audiences based on the political views of the actors and artists," Livnat went on to say. "Culture is a social bridge and we must leave politics out of the cultural and artistic realms."