The Kennedy Center’s Israeli Lounge is reportedly on shaky ground. The organization’s president told political activist Laura Loomer that he is considering selling it to a corporate donor unless a Jewish donor makes a “substantial contribution” to keep the lounge, according to Loomer’s post on X.
The Israeli Lounge, one of five of the building’s historic lounges, was gifted to the Kennedy Center in 1971 by then-Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yitzhak Rabin. In 2018, philanthropist Mikhail Fridman donated $1.25 million to renovate the largely forgotten space, according to eJewishPhilanthropy.
Loomer claimed that Richard Grenell, the president of the Kennedy Center, was considering giving the lounge to Qatar in exchange for a “major donation” from Doha for the Kennedy Center’s renovation fund, in a Jan. 10 post on X.
The same day, the self-described journalist said Grenell vowed that the lounge would not be sold to Qatar. But the space could be given to a “corporate donor” in the absence of funds.
“The Israeli Lounge, specifically, the contract lapsed 15 years ago, and now it’s up for sale again, and we would love for it to remain a space that honors the Jewish people,” Roma Daravi, the Kennedy Center’s vice president of public relations, told Jewish Insider.
Located on the box tier of the concert hall, the lounge combines modern-day imagery with biblical motifs. Dozens of overhead wooden panels depict musical events described in the Bible: Joshua at the walls of Jericho, David playing his harp, Miriam dancing in triumph and a choir on the Temple steps.
The announcement has drawn both support and criticism under Loomer’s post on X. While some commenters tagged prominent philanthropists — Bill Ackman and Miriam Adelson — others condemned the Kennedy Center and Grenell for what they call extortion.
“So a gift from the people of Israel to the U.S. is going to be DESTROYED unless a wealthy Jewish donor can be EXTORTED to GIVE MONEY to renovate the Kennedy Center?!” one commenter wrote. “How did @RichardGrenell say this with a straight face??”
“It’s f—ing extortion of the Jewish people. That’s all they see us as: just as moneybags to be pillaged,” another wrote.
Others questioned why the Kennedy Center, America’s national cultural center, houses an Israeli lounge.
The reported threat to the Israeli Lounge follows the Kennedy Center’s recent exhibition of Israeli art commemorating the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and as the institution pledged to use its platform to counter antisemitism.
