Israeli academia increasingly isolated, rejected amid global anti-Israel sentiments

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Israeli academic institutions are reportedly facing growing isolation and rejection due to escalating anti-Israel sentiment fueled by Israel's ongoing war against the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza. A small number of Western nations and institutions openly boycott Israeli academia, after many years of Israeli institutions being recognized for their excellence and significant contributions to international research.

"No one will say it outright, but we’re getting more 'no's than 'yes's these days, and the reasons aren't provided, which suggests a connection," said a prominent official from a leading Israeli academic institution.

Tel Aviv University Vice President for International Relations Prof. Milette Shamir said there is a silent boycott against Israeli academia and it is growing.

"There’s clearly a silent boycott against Israeli academic institutions," she said. "Some institutions, and even entire countries, are boycotting us. It's not just a silent boycott; there are also overt acts of ostracism," he added. However, there are fears that the boycotts could become more open and pronounced.

While Shamir admits that Israeli academia has faced the challenge of boycotts in the past, the threat has become more pronounced following Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists massacred 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped more than 250 people from southern Israeli border communities.

"It's difficult to measure because if a paper is rejected from a journal, it's hard to prove the rejection was due to the author's Israeli identity," she explained. "However, a survey at our university found over 100 examples in recent months of various boycotts—from papers not being published to foreign professors who were collaborating with our faculty suddenly disappearing, to Israeli faculty being downgraded from keynote speakers to regular presenters at conferences they were invited to before the war."

While international academia contains individuals with genuine anti-Israel bias, Shamir believes many seek to avoid confrontations with anti-Israel students on campus because of potential conflicts.

Prof. Michal Bar-Asher Siegal a former visiting professor at Yale University, personally witnessed the growing anti-Israel sentiments on campus last October, at the beginning of the Gaza War.

"Our biggest problem is those who don't want to get involved or invite trouble. This leads to situations where no one knows why an Israeli lecturer isn't invited to a conference or offered a position—they just don't want to deal with the protests," she assessed.

Looking ahead, Siegal fears that a prolonged silent boycott could undermine Israeli academia’s long-term viability.

"We are a small country excelling in research, but if the boycott continues, science won’t be able to progress here. There will be no funds, and the country will wither. There is a real fear that research in Israel could effectively die," Siegal warned.

As far back as April, Tel Aviv University Prof. Ido Wolf warned of a “creeping boycott” of Israel's scientific researchers and those in the medical profession.

“People often ask me if due to the war, there is a boycott against medicine and doctors in Israel, and I say 'no.' There's no overt boycott. An overt boycott comes with blunt and crude statements and public actions, like demonstrations,” he stated.

“But what cannot be ignored is the creeping, low-key, underground boycott, whitewashed with legitimate excuses and disguised as something tolerable and forgivable,” Wolf warned.