Israel Museum Once Again Searches for New Director
Eran Neuman began easing into the role as the new director of the Israel Museum, but abruptly backed out.
Credit Elie Posner/The Israel Museum
JERUSALEM — It took the good part of a year to find a new director for the Israel Museum in Jerusalem after James S. Snyder announced his decision early last year to step down after two decades.
But weeks after Mr. Snyder’s successor, Eran Neuman, began easing into the role, he abruptly backed out. Now, the museum’s search committee will resume the search for someone to fill the prestigious post. And Mr. Neuman will return to his previous position as head of the David Azrieli School of Architecture at Tel Aviv University.
There are competing narratives about the reason behind the pivot.
After his appointment was announced in January, Mr. Neuman took up the post on a part-time basis Feb. 19. Yet, his discussions with the leadership about his salary and benefits, which are set by Israeli law, continued, according to the museum.
Mr. Neuman’s turnaround was a result of “differing perceptions regarding his role and terms of employment,” the museum announced in a cryptic statement this week.
Museum officials said that, per policy, they would not elaborate on the circumstances surrounding Mr. Neuman’s decision, and declined any further public comment.
People close to the institution’s leadership, speaking on the condition of anonymity so as not to violate museum policy, suggested that Mr. Neuman, who lives in Tel Aviv with his family, might have underestimated the impact of the responsibilities on his life.
They said the role involved long hours on-site in Jerusalem and a significant amount of fund-raising and foreign travel.
Others familiar with Mr. Neuman’s thinking, however, also speaking on the condition of anonymity to abide by the museum’s rules, rejected outright the idea that the scope of the job was to blame. They said the reason he backed out was because Mr. Snyder never truly left the post and wanted input regarding even future exhibits.
When Mr. Neuman was appointed, Mr. Snyder praised him as “both an innovator and a scholar.” But Mr. Snyder took up a newly created role in January as the museum’s international president, developing its global reach. He also became director emeritus.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported this week that the museum’s budget remained largely dependent on Mr. Snyder because of his global fund-raising power and close connection with the American Friends of the Israel Museum. (Donations from the United States make up a significant portion of the budget.)
It also attributed Mr. Neuman’s decision to back down to Mr. Snyder’s “dominance.”
The museum is one of Israel’s most complex cultural institution to run. It has almost 400 staff members, more than 300 volunteers in full- and part-time service, and an annual operating budget of about $30 million.
