Israel’s Culture and Sports Ministry is preparing a new framework for the 2026 Culture Prizes, with a major expansion of award categories aimed at giving greater recognition to creators and communities that officials say have been underrepresented. The reform, led by Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar, is designed to reach artists from the geographic and social periphery, new immigrants, graduates of boarding schools and youth villages, and creators tied to Jewish and Israeli identity and heritage.
According to the ministry, the plan was drawn up after professional work by the ministry’s Culture and Arts Administration and reflects Zohar’s policy of broadening state recognition across Israeli society. The new calls for nominations are expected to be published soon.
Among the most notable changes, the number of film prizes will rise from 6 to 10. A new literature award will honor works dealing with the heritage and identity of Mizrahi Jews, while the music category will expand to include ensembles from the East, composers in that field and jazz creators. For the first time, there will also be a lifetime achievement prize for an artist or creator from the periphery, plus a special award for a young artist who grew up in a boarding school or youth village.
The reform also introduces a new prize for creators in the “Hebrew time” category, promoting work connected to Jewish tradition, the Hebrew calendar and Jewish heritage. In dance, a prize will be awarded for the first time to a new immigrant who has been working in Israel for up to 10 years. In interdisciplinary arts, the Culture and Arts Council will award a lifetime achievement prize to a creator with more than three decades of cultural work. New categories in visual arts include a prize encouraging creation by a woman who survived prostitution and a young artist award for someone educated in a boarding school or youth village.
Zohar said, “For many years there were populations, communities and excellent creators who did not receive sufficient expression within the State of Israel’s culture prizes. The reform we are leading corrects this situation and expands the national circle of recognition. We are strengthening the periphery, giving greater opportunity to young people who grew up in boarding schools and youth villages, giving proper place to Mizrahi music and the heritage of Mizrahi Jewry, and strengthening the connection between Israeli culture and its Jewish and Zionist identity.”
