Overview

• Flanders Festival Ghent canceled the orchestra’s September 18 concert, citing Lahav Shani’s role at the Israel Philharmonic and its inability to secure clarity on his stance toward what it called a “genocidal regime.”
• Germany’s culture minister Wolfram Weimer condemned the move as antisemitic, wrote to his Belgian counterpart, and said the Foreign Office activated communications, while the German embassy ended cooperation with the festival.
• Musikfest Berlin, with the Berliner Festspiele, the Stiftung Berliner Philharmoniker and the Konzerthaus Berlin, invited the ensemble and Shani for a solidarity concert on Monday, September 15, at the Konzerthaus.
• Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever criticized the festival’s decision as antisemitic and harmful to Belgium’s reputation, as Jewish organizations and Germany’s antisemitism commissioner also denounced the exclusion.
• Festival director Jan van den Bossche defended the cancellation, saying genocide leaves no room for ambiguity about an artist’s position; Shani is Israel Philharmonic music director and is due to become Munich’s chief conductor in 2026.