COMMENTARY – What would you say if a senior literary editor was appointed to a position on the Judicial Selection Committee? Imagine a situation where an esteemed researcher, a professor of Hebrew literature, was invited by the IDF chief to discuss the next round of appointments to the General Staff. Are these scenarios farfetched? Anyone with a healthy sense of logic would certainly agree they are. But that is exactly what's been happening in Israel's cultural and literary scenes for years.
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Last week, the Israel National Library announced the appointment of former State Attorney Shai Nitzan as the library's rector. This is a new role that was established following the Board of Directors' decision to institute a managerial reform at the National Library.
According to the INL press release, as rector, Nitzan will manage the library's content and as such will be responsible, among other things, for its collections and physical and digital archives, and his responsibilities will include issues such as "culture, education, exhibitions, international ties and activities, public relations, and fundraising."
Is Nitzan – who from the 1980s up to his retirement in 2019, served in a number of roles within the State Attorney's Office, and has never dealt with research, curation or the management of cultural assets, and certainly not with fundraising, neither in the public or private sector, or with public relations – a suitable candidate for this new role? According to the special committee appointed by the National Library to vet candidates, the answer is yes.
In public service, vetting committees are a compromise between a tender and personal appointments. In his ruling on a petition by the Israel Women's Network in 2008, High Court Justice Edmond Levy wrote, "It is easy for a professional committee to focus on professional decisions, that is its strength, and that is its contribution to correct managerial administration."
If this is indeed the case – and assuming that the process undertaken by the committee to find a rector for the INL was completely above board – then the committee should immediately publish its professional decision in full and specify why it chose a candidate who appears to have no connection to the role, or previous experience in handling any of the fields the role demands.
Nitzan's appointment is not the first such appointment in these parts. Critical roles in the cultural arena, particularly in the literary world, have often been filled by people devoid the relevant experience. Only last year, former deputy commander of the Israeli Air Force Giora Romm – a legendary pilot – was appointed chairman of the committee granting the Sapir Prize for Literature.
Romm, who following his retirement from the military served in a number of public roles ranging from director-general of the Jewish Agency to head of the National Road Safety Authority, is an experienced, respected and decorated figure. However, his record in public service has no connection to the world of Israeli literature, and he certainly has no professional mandate to be the decisive voice in the country's most prestigious literary prize.
Prior to Romm, the Sapir Prize Committee was headed by former Justice Ministry Director-General Emi Palmor (a graduate of the Hebrew University's Faculty of Law). Prior to that, the position was held by retired District Court Judge Orna Ben-Naftali (a professor of international law). Before Ben-Naftali it was held by Edna Kaplan-Hagler. (Full disclosure: I was a member of the prize jury during her term in 2015). Next came another law professor – Menachem Mautner.
The problem is clear for all to see: Israel's culture administrators, with the assistance of veteran of the judiciary and defense establishment, have taken the literary establishment hostage. The justification is always "prominence," "public image," and "managerial experience," but in practice, what we have here is jobs on a wholesale scale, at the expense of the literati – managers, researchers, writers – who are being methodically excluded from key positions.
Public discourse about the decline of the humanities has become something of a dead letter. The humanities have not been a "science" for a long time and the weight of knowledge and experience required for those involved in the humanities has been pushed aside for something far more important – ties at the top and the image of the judicial and defense elite as the ultimate patron, spreading its patronage over the field of culture.
Such appointment in literary institutions and prize committees are akin to the defamation of the integrity of the literati. The literary clique is "corrupt," and "takes care of its own" and therefore we shall appoint an overseer – incorruptible jurists or alternatively, a military veteran who will put the house in order.
The result of this patronage is reflected in unprofessional decisions by people who are not suitable for their roles. Moreover, it cheapens the essence of the committees and institutions and brings with it further unsuitable appointments for more junior positions.
A look overseas reveals a more cultural climate where good governance is reflected in worthy professional appointments. The current chair of the British Booker Prize jury is Maya Jasanoff, an art historian. Her predecessor was Margaret Busby, an editor and literary critic. The current head of the Pulitzer Prize Committee is Elizabeth Alexander, a poet, author and playwright. Her deputy is Nancy Barnes, a journalist who herself is a Pulitzer Prize laureate. The winner of the French Le Prix Goncourt is decided by an academic committee comprised of 10 leading authors. Its current members include well-known names, such as Pierre Assouline, Philippe Claudel and Pascal Bruckner.
Nowhere will you find a former state attorney at the helm of any of the leading national libraries in the world: The Librarian of Congress (perhaps the closest role to rector) is captained by Elizabeth Morrison, a historian who worked for many years at the institution. The head of France's Bibliotheque Nationale is Laurence Engel, a leading cultural administrator, and Germany's National Library is headed by Frank Scholze, an experienced librarian and editor of a journal in the field.
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Israel's literary establishment must overcome the Stockholm syndrome with which it has been struck and demand the restoration of their intellectual and managerial independence. The legal and judicial persona, as excellent as they may be in their respective fields, have not the slightest advantage in a managerial position in the field of culture. In fact, the very that they do compete for positions in the cultural field is an act of patronage.
Shai Nitzan and Giora Romm are just current examples that point to a worrying process that has grown stronger over the past decade. Both gained a reputation for being concerned first and foremost with proper governance, but they should have thought twice before jumping on this lucrative jobs bandwagon.
In last year's 11-judge High Court ruling on then-Prime Minister Netanyahu's tenure, Justice Daphne Barak-Erez wrote: "Those in public office have a legal and moral obligation to examine whether they are worthy and suitable for their role." Can Nitzan and Romm honestly testify they have fulfilled that duty?
