Zubin Mehta’s break with Israel signals a moral reckoning for artists |
Weeks before his 90th birthday on April 29, India-born conductor Zubin Mehta cancelled his artistic commitments and scheduled performances in Israel for 2026. As the devastation in Palestine escalated, Mehta — music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra — expressed discomfort with the Benjamin Netanyahu government’s treatment of Palestinians, ultimately deciding he could no longer conduct in Israel.
Yet last week, the Embassy of Israel in India unveiled a mural of Mehta in Delhi’s Lodhi Art District. It was presented as a tribute to Mehta and a celebration of the “India-Israel partnership”. The ambassador invoked the founding of the Israel Philharmonic during the extermination of Jews under Nazi Germany. But at a time when Israel is at war with Iran and continues military strikes in Gaza, the imagery appeared jarring.
Mehta, celebrated for his interpretations of Romantic composers such as Gustav Mahler, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Johannes Brahms and Ludwig van Beethoven, has long spoken candidly about politics, war and Israel. He has also made mistakes — including once........