Overview

• Flanders Festival Ghent dropped the 18 September concert, saying it lacked sufficient clarity on incoming conductor Lahav Shani’s attitude toward Israel’s government, which it described as a genocidal regime.
• The festival said the decision followed calls in Ghent’s cultural sector and coordination with Flemish Culture Minister Caroline Gennez and the Ghent City Council.
• Germany’s culture minister Wolfram Weimer condemned the move as a cultural boycott and “pure antisemitism,” calling it a dangerous precedent.
• The Munich Philharmonic said it was appalled, and Israeli diplomats branded the cancellation discriminatory and anti‑Semitic.
• Belgium’s foreign minister Maxime Prévot called the decision excessive and warned against equating Israelis or Jews with the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.