On Tuesday December 6th, Tel Aviv awoke to a 15 foot tall golden sculpture of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu standing in front of City Hall, right by Rabin Square. Israeli artist Itay Zalait had created the glimmering rendition and placed it there the night prior to “test the limitations imposed on freedom of expression in Israel in 2016.” The circus of reactions to golden Bibi ranged from denunciation by politicians to removal by an unknown bystander and a wide debate on freedom of expression in Israel – all within a matter of 5 hours.
Could this all have been avoided if Bibi just publicly laughed it off?
On Tuesday December 6th, Tel Aviv awoke to a 15 foot tall golden sculpture of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu standing in front of City Hall, right by Rabin Square. Israeli artist Itay Zalait had created the glimmering rendition and placed it there the night prior to “test the limitations imposed on freedom of expression in Israel in 2016.” The circus of reactions to golden Bibi ranged from denunciation by politicians to removal by an unknown bystander and a wide debate on freedom of expression in Israel – all within a matter of 5 hours.
Could this all have been avoided if Bibi just publicly laughed it off?
Written and produced by Ariella Plachta