JERUSALEM — There have been fights over books, music, plays, funding for the arts and academic awards. This being Israel, they have been underpinned by fierce rhetorical exchanges about democracy, fascism and zealotry, identity, the future of the state and the fate of Jews.

The latest was an attack on Wednesday by a far-right group on beloved leftist literary icons including Amos Oz, A. B. Yehoshua and David Grossman, writers who have been considered the voice — and conscience — of the state for years. The group, Im Tirtzu, began a poster campaign calling the writers "moles in culture," which prompted accusations of McCarthyism.

Ms. Regev the divisive and conservative minister of culture and sport,said that the aim of the "Loyalty in Culture" initiative, proposed as an amendment to a must-pass budget bill, is "for the first time to make support for a cultural institution dependent on its loyalty to the state of Israel."

"The search, identification and marking of alleged traitors is an old fascist characteristic, an ugly and dangerous one," said an appalled Benny Begin, a member of Parliament and a former minister from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.

This month, the left-leaning daily Haaretz highlighted internal discussions in the ministry about what artistic works might be considered "politically undesirable" for high-school students. Among the criteria, the newspaper said, were whether artists would perform in West Bank settlements and declare loyalty to the state and to the national anthem, something that is particularly problematic for Israel's Arab citizens.

Internal discussions are not policy, but even this report drew stinging responses, with Oded Kotler, a prominent Israeli actor and director, comparing Israel to the Soviet Union and telling Israel Radio, "There's a real culture war underway here, but the war from that side of the political map is a harbinger of zealotry, darkness and coercion."

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