Israel's cheerleaders may soon be a thing of the past
Sports Minister Limor Livnat says she wants basketball premier league authorities to end cheerleader performances at games
Livnat responded Tuesday to a question submitted by MK Tamar Zandberg of Meretz, who asked: "Why not completely cancel the cheerleading institution? This institution preserves stereotypes and sexist perceptions about women and objectifies the woman's body.
The entire goal of the cheerleaders' show is to entertain an audience which arrives to watch a basketball game and is mostly made up of men."
Livnat told the Knesset plenum in response, "When I see the cheerleaders, it gives me the shivers. I have suggested that the Basketball Premier League Administration consider completely canceling the cheerleaders' performances."
Zandberg later wrote on her Facebook page: "Have you ever asked yourselves why in a basketball game, in which men play and which is watched mainly by men, those who entertain the audience during the break are women? Although we are already used to seeing women jump as a form of entertainment, there is no room for this practice. Sports fans, men and women, join us in calling for the cancelation of the cheerleading institution."
'Cheerleaders' performance is no longer obligatory'
The Premier League Administration offered the following response: "Knesset Member Tamar Zandberg is usually an up-to-date MK... but this time she failed to look into the details properly.
"Before the current season, the league administration canceled the obligatory performance of cheerleaders in league games. The administration, which sees the game as an entertainment and cultural event, obligates the teams to have a certain show during the intermissions, and allows the teams to choose any show and any group, regardless of the performers' gender. The only restrictions are the age of the performers, who must be over 16, and the number of participants in the performance, which must be at least eight.
"MK Zandberg is surely not opposed to performances by breakdance and capoeira companies, whose dancers are all men and which are held today during the games of Barak Netanya, Hapoel Tel Aviv and other teams, and therefore we fail to understand her objection to the performance of cheerleaders' groups. In the United States and Europe, these performances are acceptable and are usually at a very high professional level.
"The administration has turned to the MK and asked her if she accepts performances by men during basketball games, but has yet to receive her response.
"It is unclear to us where MK Zandberg received the information that the league administration imposes penalties on the league's teams for the non-appearance of cheerleaders, and she is invited to recheck the facts.
"The administration received a question from MK Zandberg yesterday through Sports Minister Limor Livnat's office on fining teams for the non-appearance of cheerleaders, and the administration announced unequivocally that such penalties had not been imposed this season. It's a shame that despite our response, MK Zandberg wrote of non-existing fines in her post."
