Published: 5 September 2023
Last updated: 5 March 2024
Deborah Lipstadt, US Holocaust Museum, EU antisemitism co-ordinator, 173 Holocaust scholars all fight back in support of Dani Dayan
An attempt by the Netanyahu government to remove Yad Vashem chairman Dani Dayan has ignited a firestorm of controversy, setting off new concerns about intervention by Israel’s government.
On Thursday, Israeli media reported that Sara Netanyahu had asked the government to intervene when Dayan invited pop singer Keren Pele, an outspoken critic of the government, to perform at the Yad Vashem Memorial Day ceremony. Sara Netanyahu has denied the reports.
But Dayan, who was appointed by the previous government in 2021, has a longstanding conflict with the Netanyahus and the right-wing coalition over relations with far-right parties in the Diaspora.
Although he lives in a West Bank settlement and previously served as head of the Shomron Regional Council, Dayan represented the professional position of Yad Vashem, which opposes the "whitewashing" of parties of an antisemitic nature or those that work to deny the Holocaust.
This insistence placed him on a collision course with the government and contributed to the desire of Netanyahu and Education Minister Yoav Kisch to replace him. Dayan has also been critical of Netanyahu’s handling of relations with North American Jewry.
Dayan has been strongly defended by key figures in Holocaust scholarship. A letter from 173 prominent Holocaust scholars and educators called on Kisch and the government to make sure that Dayan and Yad Vashem be allowed to continue Yad Vashem’s mission unhindered.
“As the members of the international community of Holocaust scholars and educators, we watch with great concern the recent attacks by the Israeli Minister of Education on Dani Dayan, the Chairman of Yad Vashem, the foremost institution of Holocaust commemoration, remembrance, and research. Mr Dayan, appointed in 2021, has served his institution with great distinction, allowing Yad Vashem to maintain and to reinforce its independent and non-partisan character.
