Amsterdam’s Royal Concert Hall reverses decision, will allow IDF cantor to perform at Hanukkah event

The Royal Concert Hall in Amsterdam (Concertgebouw) will allow the Israel Defense Force's chief cantor, Lt.-Col. Shai Abramson, to perform at an upcoming Jewish Hanukkah concert hosted by the Chanukah Concert Foundation.

Last week, the same concert hall canceled Abramson’s performance, citing his role as the “representative cantor of the State of Israel” and the de facto cantor of the IDF. The venue said the decision was tied to “the IDF’s active involvement in a controversial war” and to Abramson’s public association with the military. The move was widely understood as a reference to the Gaza War.

The concert hall’s reversal followed threats by the Chanukah Concert Foundation to take legal action over what it called a “restriction of religious freedom.” The incident sparked tensions within Amsterdam’s Jewish community and between the Israeli government and Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, a critic of the Israeli government. The dispute was ultimately resolved through a compromise: two separate concerts – one featuring Abramson's performance and another for attendees who opposed the IDF cantor's participation.

“Over the past week, we have seen the situation escalate into tension. We agree that this damaging trend must stop,” said the organizations in a joint statement. They emphasized that revenue from ticket sales for the IDF cantor’s concert would be donated to “a charity that promotes social cohesion in the city.”

Anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incidents have increased dramatically in the Netherlands since the Hamas Oct. 7 attack. In September, a survey was conducted among the population in the Netherlands and revealed that almost six in ten people (58%) support tougher government action against the Jewish state, including potential boycotts.

David Serphos, a board member and spokesperson for the Chanukah Concert Foundation, acknowledged that the concert hall’s decision “caused a lot of pain” among many Dutch Jews.  

“It’s situated in a part of the city where a lot of Jews live,” Serphos said. “A lot of Jews go to the Concertgebouw either weekly or monthly. They are regular guests,” he added.

By contrast, the small anti-Zionist Jewish group, Erev Rav, opposed the concert hall’s decision to permit the IDF cantor to perform.

“The Concertgebouw’s initial refusal to provide a stage to a representative of a military perpetrating mass atrocities was a principled position grounded in an understanding of the way Zionist propaganda, including through the arts, sustains a genocidal regime,” Erev Rav wrote on Instagram. The group also stated that the “Dutch Zionist lobby” seeks to equate anti-Zionism with antisemitism.

Approximately 75% of Dutch Jews were murdered during the Holocaust by the Nazis and their local collaborators – a history that still shapes Jewish sensitivities in the Netherlands today. Against this backdrop, Israeli Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli sharply condemned the initial decision to bar the IDF cantor from performing.

“Once again, Jews are being told that their identity, their art, and their connection to Israel make them unwelcome,” Chikli stated.

In November 2024, at least 10 Israeli soccer fans were injured by Muslim extremists following a match in Amsterdam between Maccabi Tel Aviv and the local Ajax team. The assault was widely condemned as an antisemitic pogrom.