Israeli artists and leading cultural figures gathered Sunday to try and consolidate an approach against culture minister Miri Regev's declared intent to withdraw support from institutes that "delegitimize" Israel, a move critics say would amount to censorship. Hundreds of cultural icons crammed into a performance venue in Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv, to discuss a joint response after Regev sparked a furore last week when she threatened to defund a theatre managed by an Arab Israeli if he refused to perform in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The debate was also fired up by Education minister Naftali Bennett's recent decision to overrule a professional committee and pull an Arab play from a state-funded educational programme.