The "people's artist" receives free municipal services while local artists struggle for a stage
It turns out that in Haifa, like the rest of the country, there are those who receive everything on a platter of public money. This time it's Noa Kirel, who received marketing, advertising, and ticket distribution services from the Haifa Municipality – all at the expense of Haifa taxpayers. While young local artists struggle for any possible stage, the municipality chose to provide a complete VIP package to someone who already lacks nothing.
ETHOS, the municipal subsidiary company enjoying a hefty budget of about 6 million shekels in public funds, has become Kirel's private production office in Haifa. An entire array of public employees was recruited for the mission: from call center operators to marketing personnel, all mobilized to promote someone who has long since not needed public support.
"There is no agreement", Shir Pinto, the star's PR agent, responded arrogantly. Indeed, why trouble ourselves with unnecessary procedures like tenders or contracts when we can simply take public resources?
The municipality spokesperson, Mr. Eliran Tal, prefers to maintain his right to silence despite his salary being paid from public funds. Apparently, in the Haifa Municipality, "transparency" is a dirty word, especially when it comes to explaining the use of public resources for the benefit of a commercially successful artist.
While Haifa deals with Hezbollah threats and local businesses collapse, the municipality found it appropriate to invest valuable resources in promoting a show for someone who barely needs advertising. SMS messages were sent to residents, billboards were placed throughout the city, and an entire customer service system was activated – all funded by Haifa taxpayers.
While young local artists must make do with performances in basements and small bars, without access to municipal resources, Noa Kirel receives royal treatment from the public coffers. Mindless dances received a magnificent stage, accompanied by security guards from a company funded by public money, while real art is pushed to the margins.
The situation becomes even more concerning when examining the details of the performance arrangement. Two thousand seats were allocated for the show, with municipal guidelines to Kirel and her production company explicitly stating that the performance would be used for filming a music video. This means that not only did the public fund the event from their private pockets, but the municipality also turned the show's participants into extras in the video – without compensation and at no cost.
This situation raises serious questions about the exploitation of show participants for the video shooting. In the professional market, an extra's wage ranges between 500 to 800 new shekels per shooting day. Using a conservative calculation based on the minimum rate of 500 shekels, we find that Ms. Kirel saved an estimated amount of about one million new shekels (the result of multiplying 500 shekels by two thousand participants) through blatant exploitation of the audience recruited under the auspices of the Haifa Municipality.
The ETHOS management, headed by Yossi Shalom and including directors Yossi Henig, Kirill Kartnik, and Attorney Yaakov Borovsky, made the puzzling decision to grant exclusivity for ticket marketing to the event – without tender and without explanation. But who needs explanations when dealing with a superstar?
Our investigation reveals that ETHOS, despite being publicly funded, hasn't even bothered to submit updated financial reports to the Registrar of Non-Profits. The last reports published are from 2021 (published in 2022), as if public transparency is merely a recommendation. It's possible the reports were submitted but for some reason don't appear in the registry – perhaps due to processing delays.
Haifa business owners, struggling under the burden of property tax, signage fees, and municipal fines, can only dream of the preferential treatment Kirel receives. While they fight for survival during wartime, the municipality chooses to invest public money in promoting someone who lacks nothing.
This is a slap in the face to every young artist in Haifa. Instead of providing a stage for local talents, the municipality prefers to invest in a pop star who has long since not needed public support.
The affair raises pointed questions about the Haifa Municipality's priorities and how it manages public funds. Is it really the role of a municipality to serve as a private production office for commercial artists? Is this how the priorities of a city in emergency should look?
Meanwhile, while the municipal spokesperson remains silent and those responsible evade providing answers, public funds continue to flow toward promoting someone who has long since not needed them. And Haifa's residents? They can only pay their property tax bills and wonder when the municipality will start caring about them too.
Responses:
The Haifa Municipality spokesperson, Mr. Eliran Tal, refrained from responding to our email inquiry, raising concerns about deliberate information concealment. Given that this involves the use of public funds, an issue worthy of thorough consideration, we are committed to continuing our investigation of the affair.
(It should be noted that the Haifa Municipality's spokesperson's office, budgeted with hundreds of thousands of shekels from taxpayer money, whose defined role is to respond to media seeking to expose the truth, has de facto become the official department of silence.)
Relevant parties' responses:
* Haifa Municipality – No response
* ETHOS Company – No response
* Noa Kirel's PR agent: "There is no agreement and there was no agreement, it's all in your imagination".
Photo: Eran Levy | Shalman Studio, content per Section 27a