Museum declines to make Rivlin honorary fellow
Israel Museum decides not to make President Rivlin an honorary fellow after Yitzhak Molcho - chairman of the Museum’s executive committee and confidant of Netanyahu – torpedoed the initiative.
The Israel Museum's executive committee has made the surprising decision not to make President Reuven Rivlin an honorary fellow, after an intercession by a close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Rivlin was to follow in the footsteps of previous presidents, such as Ezer Weitzman and Shimon Peres, who were awarded the title during their terms in office. But Yitzhak Molcho, a member of the executive committee and the Netanyahu family's lawyer, opposed the initiative, stating that “Rivlin refused to help the Israel Museum in the past.”
Molcho surprised the members of the executive committe. “Don’t think that I have something personal against Rivlin - we’ve been friends since childhood, we're from the same neighborhood," he said. "But Rivlin didn’t help; therefore, this is not the time to award him the honorary degree.”
Executive committee members who attended the meeting said they believe Molcho opposed the initiative in light of the strained relationship between the president and the prime minister. Molcho, they said, might be concerned to incur the wrath of the Prime Minister's Residence and be seen as a Rivlin supporter.
Netanyahu invested a considerable amount of effort into stopping Rivlin from becoming president, and has tried to curb him since he was elected.
Joseph Ciechanover, one of the executive committee members, told Molcho that “assuming you’re right, assuming that in the past he didn’t assist us. It’s even better that we embrace him – so that perhaps we can recruit him to the museum's aid in the future.”
However, Molcho stuck to his guns and closed the meeting.
“It was a surreal moment,” said one of those present. “I was in shock.”
Another member of the executive committee rejected Molcho’s accusation that Rivlin refused to help the museum, saying “Rivlin and his wife Nehama have been contributing money to the museum from their personal funds for years, long before he was appointed president.”
He went on to say that “They've granted every request we've made. Molcho is not concerned with the museum's best interest of the museum - he is only afraid of the response he will get from the Prime Minister’s Residence.”
A statement on behalf of Molcho said: The report is false, and therefore doesn’t warrant a response.
