Channel 14 news anchor Noy Bar shared photos on Wednesday from several Israeli shopping centers, where retailers have begun stocking merchandise and decorations ahead of the Christian holidays of Halloween and Christmas. Bar delivered a sharp critique of Jewish Israelis who choose to celebrate these occasions, as well as the retail chains that promote them.
In a series of stories posted to her personal Instagram account, Bar lashed out at what she characterized as “blind imitation” within Israel, arguing that the trend is “strange, artificial, embarrassing, degrading, and even repulsive.” According to Bar, adopting these holidays reflects shallow consumerism rather than authentic cultural engagement, calling it “gathering crumbs from foreign tables and devouring them as if they fell from the king’s feast.”
Bar further framed the issue around broader questions of Jewish national identity and social cohesion in the Jewish state: “A nation that loses its reason for existing as a distinct and unified entity will ultimately lose its existence. Multiculturalism, yeah, right.”