The British writer Ian McEwan has expressed his belief in the importance of engaging with Israeli politics rather than boycotting the country.
Speaking in Israel ahead of a ceremony at which he will receive this year’s Jerusalem Prize, Israel’s highest honour for foreign writers, Mr McEwan said: “You cannot isolate [literature] but I take it as a bad sign when politics permeates every corner of life”.
According to the Guardian, he added: “I don't feel I endorse every corner of Israel's domestic or foreign policy…but I feel it's right to engage with it."
In Israel for the first time, Mr McEwan said he was aware he was “in a country with a true democracy of opinion” and said Israel should be “agitating” for the spread of democracy across the Middle East.
