Author David Grossman snubs Olmert upon receiving prize

Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondent, 8.11.07. Author David Grossman, upon receiving the Emet Prize for Arts, Science and Culture, did not shake the hand of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert or Supreme Court President Justice Dorit Beinisch at the awards ceremony Wednesday night in the Jerusalem Theater. Grossman, whose son Uri was killed during fighting in the Second Lebanon War, said in a speech at last year's rally commemorating assassinated former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin that "at this time there is no king in Israel... our leadership is hollow." In the speech, he addressed Olmert directly, saying, "Certainly I am grieving, but I am more pained than angry. This country and what you and your friends are doing to it pains me." After the ceremony, the famed author said, "I don't shake the prime minister's hand. I assume you can understand the reason."