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Amsterdam’s Royal Concert Hall, the Concertgebouw, has canceled this year’s Hanukkah concert, it was announced last week.
The decision ends a celebrated annual event that symbolized Jewish renewal and resilience. Last year, the hall marked the concert’s tenth anniversary, seven decades after the Nazis ended it during World War II.
For many Dutch Jews, the concert had become a joyful expression of identity and continuity. Now, its cancellation, due to the invited cantor’s Israeli military ties, has reignited painful questions about cultural exclusion.
Dispute Over the Performer
The Hanukkah Concert Foundation, which organizes the event, invited Lt. Col. Shai Abramson, the Israel Defense Forces’ chief cantor, to perform. Abramson, a retired officer and world-renowned vocalist, often sings at national ceremonies and Jewish events around the world.
Concertgebouw officials said they urged organizers for months to alter the program. When no compromise was reached, the hall canceled the concert planned for December 14. “It was not possible to reach an agreement on an alternative to the performance by the IDF Chief Cantor,” the statement read.
Director Simon Reinink said the decision was “extremely difficult,” explaining that Abramson’s involvement as “a visible representative of the IDF” posed a problem.
Jewish Leaders Condemn Decision
The Hanukkah Concert Foundation called the move discriminatory and said it would seek legal action. It rejected the hall’s claim that Abramson represented the Israeli military. “He is an independent artist, invited by the State of Israel to sing at national memorial ceremonies,” the foundation said. “Labeling him as an IDF representative fosters unwarranted negative sentiment toward Israel and the Jewish community.”
The foundation also accused the Concertgebouw of deepening a sense of exclusion. “The Jewish community has faced marginalization in the cultural sector for more than two years,” it stated. “It is ironic that the Concertgebouw — where Hanukkah celebrations have been held since 1921, a tradition interrupted only by World War II — is now confronting the Jewish community with isolation.”
Although the hall insisted that it “remains a place where the Jewish community is welcome,” many leaders argue its actions tell a different story.
A Pattern of Exclusion
This is not the first controversy involving Jewish or Israeli performers at the Concertgebouw. In 2023, the hall canceled a benefit concert for the Israeli humanitarian group ZAKA after demanding that half of the proceeds go to a Dutch Palestinian organization accused of anti-Israel bias.
Months later, a concert by a Jerusalem-based quartet was canceled over expected protests. Ironically, the same group now appears on the hall’s upcoming schedule.
Tensions over Israel have also spread through Dutch society. Violent antisemitic incidents followed a soccer match between Amsterdam’s Ajax soccer club and Maccabi Tel Aviv in November 2024, and the University of Amsterdam suspended its exchange with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem this past March, claiming the Israeli school failed to distance itself from the Gaza war.
When “Neutrality” Becomes Antisemitism
For Dutch Jews, the Hanukkah concert has long represented cultural revival after tragedy. Canceling it because of one performer’s Israeli background feels, to many, like collective punishment.
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism makes this distinction clear: holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of the State of Israel is antisemitism. By excluding a Jewish religious celebration on that basis, critics say, the Concertgebouw crossed a moral and ethical line.
A Revival Threatened
The Hanukkah concert was revived in 2015, seventy years after the Holocaust destroyed most of Dutch Jewry. It was meant to unite Amsterdam’s Jewish population and celebrate resilience through music. That spirit is now under strain.
The Hanukkah Concert Foundation vowed to continue. “We will assume that the concerts on December 14 will go ahead, including Cantor Abramson,” it said. Whether the event proceeds or not, the debate has already exposed deep divisions over artistic freedom, fairness, and the treatment of Jewish identity in Europe.
Take Action
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