Whistler days
One of the leaders of “The Entertainments”, a band that was born from an obscure rock opera and reached the general public, or at least as wide as it could. The entertainments have always been a band that breaks boundaries – one that really bothers you (as good satire should do) and that is not afraid of clever provocation. From the porcelain roller who looks at the parade and the machine guns, through the Chief of Staff who arrives in a sleigh, to the plane that is about to crash with the songs in his headphones. Whistler was also behind “A place for concern”, one of the best satire programs they did here, which survived two seasons on Channel 10 Zal. A good creator and source who always combined subversive messages against a background of joyful music and/or wild humor.
Hagai Levi
One of the most respected television producers in Israel, who did a process that we know very well – to infiltrate the mainstream, and undermine it from the inside. That’s what Levy did in 2005, when he was chief editor and co-producer of the series “Love Beyond the Corner”, where he managed to insert important social messages under the guise of a sweet telenovela. But his greatest work is of course “The Boys”, the series he created with Yosef Sider and Tawfik Abu Wail, which documented the kidnapping and murder of the teenager Muhammad Abu Khadir in the polluted summer of 2014. It may have been broadcast on the mainstream channel “Rainbow”, but it was so subversive that the Prime Minister At that time Benjamin Netanyahu defined her as “anti-Semitic”. It was, of course, a lie – but Levy always managed to give new voices, ones that are not comfortable to the classical Israeli ear, and make them sound good.
Kobe Oz
It is doubtful whether he himself would define him as a “subversive”, but Kobe Oz is undoubtedly one of the great revolutionaries of Israeli music. He was born in Sderot to a family of Tunisian origin, was a keyboardist in the band “Shfatim” and is still the beating heart behind one of the biggest bands that grew up here – “Tipx”, the one that broke the boundaries back in the early nineties, the one that hid liberal values and critical statements in a mixture of periphery and kibbutzim. In between, he also opened doors to electronic, oriental, disco, punk and even hip-hop music – and in general, stretched the boundaries of Israeli music.
The late Amos Kenan
Another person who always made sure to remain on the sidelines, from the time he was a fighter in the Lahi organization until the moment he stood up with Mati Peled and Luva Eliav at the head of the “Israeli-Palestinian Peace Council” in 1975. The late Kenan was responsible for some of the great hymns that were here, he was a significant creator – and especially one who was not afraid to express his very unpopular opinion at the time. In one of his well-known columns from the beginning of his career, Kenan wrote about “Danny (Zion to his memory)” – that boy who did what everyone else did. “When everyone went to war, he went too,” he wrote at the time. And Kenan, in his long life (which was stopped at the age of 82, about 13 years ago), made sure to do the opposite.
Shannon Street
Apparently, one who stands today at the heart of the mainstream – the leader of one of the most popular bands in Israel, “Snake Fish”. But Shanan is a brave creator, mainly because he didn’t compromise with the truth – even when the audience didn’t like or ask for it, he made sure to bring the political statement (even in the most fun and dancing songs, and maybe even in them) and he made sure to sing in Arabic even when the average Israeli ear rejected it. In the candy wrapper of the light music of “The Fish”, Shanan became an iron sheep asset – precisely because of the truth in the words.
tuna
Yes, we all love subversion – especially when it’s on our side. But what happens if someone says the opposite? Itay Zebulon, or Tuna for you, was a voice during the Corona period that expressed, among other things, quite a bit of skepticism regarding the health system policy. And despite the backlash he received, Tuna “remained alive”, as one of his poems states. He packaged the statements he made in posts at the time into accurate social criticism that is hard to argue with in the album “Wild East”, and then won album of the year, song of the year and the whole year with it. If that’s not subversive, we don’t know what is.
Yankel’a Rotblit
Probably the greatest songwriters living among us. Rotblit, the man who wrote “Song for peace”, “Derchno”, “Devrym sharchii mour” and countless other songs – has long been a member of the Israeli mainstream. But his subversiveness comes from the place where he made sure to express the uncomfortable opinions – either when he became the creator behind “The Back Yard” (the man who wrote “Sheikh Jarrah”, for example); And whether or not when during the secession plan, he actually sided with the “oranges”, against the left from which he came. Rothblit is always, above all, a free man. And this freedom is not taken for granted in our country.
Zeev Tana
At 75, he’s still kicking. One of the most prominent rockers in Israeli music, one who was not afraid to use provocations – and sometimes also managed to penetrate the mainstream, with songs like “Where did we go wrong” or “Beirut”, a painful song that referred to the bombings in Lebanon – and gained real fame with the performance in the movie “Waltz with Bashir” by Ari Pullman. Another one of the independent, original, and important artists that Hebrew culture has grown. And he managed all this while developing the “Mama Chicken” products and founded the “Frank” sausage house. When did you have the time?!
WC
Avshalom and Aryeh Al-Shepari, the two sons of creators Shmulik and Hana Azoulai Al-Shepari, are today two young and angry musicians who are the prominent voice of the younger left. The one who doesn’t live within the old frameworks, and isn’t afraid to speak his mind. “We were stunned when Gush Amunim was founded / We were stunned when Gofstein rounded up thugs / We were stunned, at home, when they closed the National Highway / And it’s not long before you put on a cap or jump off the roof,” they wrote in March 2021. One day will come and these will also be the election results.
The late Moti Kirschenbaum
And here’s a question: How can a person who was the CEO of the Israel Broadcasting Authority star in the subversive parade? He can. Because the late Moti Kirschenbaum, although he was a dear member of the establishment, always stretched these boundaries. He did it with “Cleaning the Head”, which came in 1974 – just after the bloody Yom Kippur War – and told the Israelis the truth, at a time when there was only one channel in Israel. The one who risked protests, the one that the politicians dealt with – more than he dealt with them. And he also did it in a thousand other ways – from the moment he brought the “Chamber Quintet” to Channel One, to the moment when, as the presenter of “London Kirschenbaum”, he made sure to stick pins in the politicians’ balloon, and dance like two children at the end. What is more subversive than that?
Gil Koptsch
subversion? in Abuja Another one that found its place inside the petrified establishment of the Broadcasting Authority, but managed to crack a real hole in it. It happened when he was a guest on the program of one, Yair Lapid, on Friday and brought the “Parashat of the week” from his angle – a Jew, but one who is also ready to laugh about it. The politicians were angry, the crowd threatened, but Kuptsch remained his own. One of the first stand-up artists in Israel and a person who was always extraordinary. Later he also ran for the Knesset with “Green Leaf”. One man’s protest movement, on everyone’s head.
Sayed Kashua
He who was born in Tira, and became one of the prominent voices in the Hebrew media, was subversive twice – once towards the Jewish majority, in front of whom he was careful not to stoop and tell the truth; And the second time, also towards Arab society, in front of which he was no less critical. This brought him detractors from here and there, but his work also opened quite a few hearts – he managed to bring a series in Arabic to the heart of prime time on Channel 2 (and then also “The Screenwriter”, one of the best comedies ever). Kashua is a subversive by virtue of being provocative towards the two opposing tribes, simply because he did not agree to bow down to both of them. Subversion in its embodiment.