BLOOMBERG PHILANTHROPIES’ STATEMENT
In a statement to The Stage (‘NT and RSC among theatres urged to reject ‘unethical’ sponsor by 250 creatives’, May 28 2026), Bloomberg Philanthropies has issued the following defence of its operations in apartheid Israel:
The accusations being posted are false, and the information being shared is intentionally misleading. No cities or mayors from the West Bank are participating in these programmes today, and those promoting this claim know it does not reflect the reality – or the spirit – of our work.
Our focus is, and has always been, supporting cities around the world, including across the Middle East. That means working with cities and their leaders, whether Jewish or Arab, to help them deliver better public services, use data to inform decisions, and strengthen their communities – no matter what’s happening at the national level or in global affairs.”
Bloomberg Philanthropies is here referring to our fully evidenced briefing ‘Bloomberg Philanthropies, Arts Sponsorship, War Crimes’. Artists for Palestine UK stands by every word of our meticulously researched document and its conclusions, based on sources available in the public domain in Israel. Arts leaders can read the full briefing and Bloomberg Philanthropies’ response to it, and draw their own conclusions.
We note that under an apartheid system “helping city leaders” involves facilitating a form of racialised and discriminatory governance which amounts to a crime against humanity. We’ve documented examples of the consequent incitement by city leaders helped by Bloomberg.
Bloomberg Philanthropies claims that its city leadership programme is only about supporting local communities. But in reality Israeli mayors are plainly involved in national and global politics – the politics of war, occupation and expansionism. One of the reasons they support the terror inflicted on Gaza, the West Bank and now Lebanon is that they think it will benefit their own cities.
Alon Davidi, Mayor of Sderot and current Bloomberg trainee, has declared Trump’s plan for a ‘new Gaza’, emptied of Palestinians, as a ‘game changer’ for his city. For him, local prosperity comes through genocide and ethnic cleansing.
David Azoulay, Mayor of the northern city of Metula and member of the Bloomberg-Sagol Center’s ‘Growth Programme’, believes that Gaza should be ‘levelled like Auschwitz’. In April, he applied the same thinking to Lebanon. Like many other mayors, he wants Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, which have killed over 3000 people this year, to carry on. Peace wouldn’t be a blessing but a betrayal. For the problems of his community, war is the answer.
This is an aspect of the ‘spirit’ of the mayors’ work which Bloomberg Philanthropies will not admit. It is not the only thing that Bloomberg misrepresents.
The claim that no mayor from the West Bank is participating in these programmes “today” – is an admission of past guilt. Is the absence of West Bank mayors in this year’s cohort of trainees just a chance outcome of this year’s selection process, or has the Center taken the momentous decision to end all work with officials in illegal Israel settlements henceforth? When support for illegal occupation is in question, there should be no room for ambiguity.
Leaders of cultural organisations should hold Bloomberg Philanthropies to account. They should not accept equivocation and misrepresentation.