Turns Out, Defense Ministers Aren’t That Into Poetry

Israeli radio faced controversy and far-right Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman is pissed that Israel Army Radio played a recording of a poemduring an educational segment. Poetry readings on the radio sound like a pretty benign snooze fest, but the poem just so happened to belong to the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. The controversy began when Culture Minister Miri Regev called on Lieberman to stop funding the station in retaliation, catalyzing a robust national dialogue on free speech all for a poet known mostly for writing about the landscape. Army Radio defends its decision to broadcast, arguing that that the poem was presented alongside writers like Rabbi Kook and Theodor Hurzl in order to “offer listeners a wealth of ideas.”