The organizers of the Flanders Festival Ghent in Belgium were open about why they decided to cancel a planned concert by the Munich Philharmonic: The reason, they said, was that its Israeli conductor, Lahav Shani, had not sufficiently distanced himself from the actions of Israel's government.

By canceling the event, the organizers say they wanted "to maintain the serenity" of the festival and that it is their "deepest conviction that music should be a source of connection and reconciliation." 

But instead of serenity, the move has triggered a wave of outrage — especially in Germany.

Munich Philharmonic cancellation 'deeply antisemitic act'

Many German politicians and antisemitism experts swiftly condemned the music festival's decision.

Germany's Minister of State for Culture, Wolfram Weimer, called the move "a dangerous precedent," describing it as "pure antisemitism and an attack on the fundamentals of our culture."

The German Commissioner for Antisemitism, Felix Klein, also sharply criticized the decision. "I consider the cancellation, based on the stated reasons, to be a completely unspeakable and deeply antisemitic act," he told the German dpa press agency.

The former President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Charlotte Knobloch, called the cancellation one of the "most blatant examples of current Jew-hatred."

"Anyone who fails to hear the historical echo in this situation is turning a deaf ear," she told dpa, referring to the anti-Jewish boycotts under the Nazis.

Conductor Shani calls Gaza war a 'catastrophe'

In a statement sent to the press five days after the cancellation, Lahav Shani criticized the festival's "regrettable decision" through which he was "involuntarily drawn into an unexpected public storm that quickly escalated into a diplomatic incident."

In his statement, he also reiterates his position on the situation in Gaza.

"Like many Israelis, I have not abandoned my human values. The images and reports from Gaza are deeply disturbing, and it is impossible to remain indifferent in the face of the catastrophe that this war has brought upon the civilian population in Gaza," he writes.

"Everything must be done to end the war as soon as possible and begin the long process of healing and reconstruction for both societies."

Other theaters continue with Philharmonic concerts

In reaction to the cancelled performance, the Berliner Konzerthaus organized a last-minute concert held on Monday. 

"We can never let the program of European stages be dictated by antisemites," Culture Commissioner Weimer said in a speech at the concert.

"We are the Europe of the Enlightenment, not the Europe that the Nazis betrayed 90 years ago," he added, referring to the Nuremberg laws to introduced in 1935 to discriminate against Germany's Jewish population, which culminated in the Holocaust. 

Other European theaters scheduled to host the Munich Philharmonic and Lahav Shani in the same week as the Flanders Festival have said they won't follow Ghent's example. 

The Philharmonie Luxembourg, which is hosting a concert directed by Shani on September 17, said in a statement to DW: "We uphold our position of continuing to work with artists from all over the world. We do not wish to associate ourselves with a boycott of individuals based on nationality, as we do not believe that all artists support or are tied to the policies of their government."

Who is Lahav Shani?

Born in Tel Aviv in 1989, Lahav Shani is considered one of classical music's brightest young stars. A conductor, pianist and double bassist, he succeeded Zubin Mehta as director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in 2019.

Since 2016, Shani has also been chief conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic.

Although he is already directing concerts with the Munich Philharmonic, he will officially become the new chief conductor of the German orchestra starting in September 2026. He will then step down from the Rotterdam position but remain director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Shani called in the past for peace

For much of his career, Shani was cautious about making political statements.

In a 2024 guest essay for German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, he explained that as the conductor of the Israeli Philharmonic orchestra — with musicians from diverse backgrounds and with often opposing views — he didn't feel it was his role to speak out on behalf of any one side. 

But that changed in March 2023, he wrote in the essay, when mass protests against planned judicial reforms by Benjamin Netanyahu's government could be heard outside a Tel Aviv concert hall where Shani was about to perform. That night, he voiced his concerns onstage about the future of Israeli democracy. 

Shani also wrote about the shock of realizing that Jews couldn't feel safe even in Israel after the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023 — a fear shared by many other Jewish people around the world. 

Yet he also expressed hope "that on both sides very courageous people will soon come forward, people who think about the future and dare to take the difficult steps towards peace." 

While the Flanders Festival Ghent acknowledged that "Lahav Shani has spoken out in favor of peace and reconciliation several times in the past," the organizers argued that he had not gone far enough "in the light of his role as the chief conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra." 

PEN Berlin, the local branch of an international writers' association dedicated to free expression, strongly disagrees.

In a statement, PEN Berlin spokesperson Thea Dorn said: "Freedom of expression is not only the right to express oneself freely and without fear of reprisal; it also includes the right not to be forced to express one's beliefs. Coercion to confess is a hallmark of authoritarian and even more so totalitarian regimes."

Can Shani's case be compared to Valery Gergiev's?

The debate over Shani Lahav has sparked comparisons with Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, who was dismissed by the Munich Philharmonic in March 2022 after refusing to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

Jewish pianist Igor Levit, a globally renowned artist known for his outspoken stance against xenophobia and antisemitism, rejected the comparison.

"Valery Gergiev is an artist who has been an open, committed supporter, collaborator and profiteer of the Russian imperialist dictator's machinations for years. Comparing this man to Lahav Shani — a conductor who, with his German orchestra, only got into this situation because he is an Israeli Jew — is, in my view, a sign of intellectual bankruptcy," Levit noted in an interview with German news service Tagesthemen. 

Gergiev had long been a vocal supporter of the Kremlin, appearing in a 2012 campaign advertisement for Vladimir Putin and endorsing the annexation of Crimea. Gergiev is currently the director of the Mariinsky Theater and the Bolshoi Theater in Russia. 

Even so, PEN Berlin highlighted some similarities, with its spokesperson Dorn noting: "Gergiev and Shani may have very different levels of closeness to their respective governments, yet the accusations leveled against them are similar: It's not about things they said, but about things they didn't say. Cancel culture and forced political affiliation are fundamentally to be rejected, and not just when they fit one's ideological concept." 

'A cultural boycott is always wrong'

The Shani affair is part of a wider international debate. Many public personalities have been hesitant to speak out on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — both because of its complexity and the fear that criticizing Israel publicly could have professional consequences.

In Germany, there has been a rise in cancellations of artists and intellectuals whose stance on Israel's policies was seen as too critical. This practice has also impacted a large number of Jewish voices. 

Jewish-Austrian author Eva Menasse has been a vocal opponent of such boycotts. She told DW that "cultural boycotts are always wrong." She argued that they are used by groups to reaffirm their respective moral stances, but they're only a distraction from the political steps that need to be taken.

"Will a disinvited orchestra prevent the ongoing, monstrous destruction of Gaza? Will it save a single child from starvation? No, of course not. Only politics can do that," Menasse said. "At the same time, cultural boycotts always lead to more polarization and division in society." 

Menasse also pointed to a double standard, asking why those who are now condemning the Ghent cancellation were silent when Jewish intellectuals and artists who were critical of Israel were disinvited elsewhere.

She cited Israeli-German philosopher Omri Boehm, whose speech for the 80th anniversary of the Buchenwald concentration camp's liberation was canceled after objections by the Israeli ambassador, and the controversy over awarding the Hannah Arendt Prize to Masha Gessen, after the journalist compared Gaza to Nazi-era ghettos in an article for the New Yorker magazine. 

The controversy over the Ghent festival's cancellation has shown once again how quickly culture and politics become entangled — while some view boycotts as a legitimate form of protest, others warn that they often deepen divisions and risk silencing important voices.

Navigating the complex debates over artistic expression and political accountability will likely remain a major challenge for cultural institutions in a deeply divided world.

Edited by: Brenda Haas and Marianna Evenstein

Update: This article was was first published on September 12, 2025. It was following the last-minute Berlin concert held on September 15 and with Lahav Shani's statement on September 17.