Walter Rosenthal argues that Israeli universities are a “liberal, democratic force.” But some critics disagree
Photo credits: Stanislav Vdovin / Unsplash
The head of the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) has pleaded with the EU not to eject Israel from the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, as the bloc weighs how to respond to the country’s starvation of Gaza.
Last month, the EU launched a review of its association agreement with Israel, which underpins association to Horizon Europe and mandates that Israel should respect human rights.
The European External Action Service is expected to report its findings to member states on June 23, and European Council president António Costa indicated last week that the review will find Israel falling short.
Israel’s attack on and starvation of Gaza has triggered a debate within European academia over the ethics of continued collaboration, with a number of universities cutting ties. The country’s participation in Horizon Europe, meanwhile, has tumbled.
Walter Rosenthal, president of the HRK, entered that debate by arguing against ejecting Israel from Horizon Europe or boycotting Israeli science more generally.
The suspension of the association agreement would be “wrong and fatal in its consequences,” he said in a statement released on June 11.
EU member states have increasingly turned against Israel following its blockade on food to Gaza, as well as continued military strikes on the region. The UN warned earlier this month that Gaza’s daily food intake has fallen well below “survival” level.
But Rosenthal argued that Israeli universities and academics “have always been a strong liberal, democratic force” and make an important contribution to maintaining links and exchanges between people, institutions and societies affected by conflict and war.
“Jewish and Arab Israelis and Palestinians have in many cases been studying, researching and working together there for years,” Rosenthal said.
This argument is echoed by some academics in Israel itself, who claim that ejecting the country from Horizon Europe would hurt Israeli researchers, who are some of those most opposed to the current government and the war in Gaza.
Critics of Israel accept that academic boycotts might inadvertently hurt some anti-war Israeli scholars. But they say that the EU must use all diplomatic levers at its disposal, including scientific and technological links, to pressure the Israeli government into ending the starvation of Gaza.
Rosenthal’s claim that Israeli universities “have always been a strong liberal, democratic force” is disputed by some scholars, who point out that some have close ties to the military and have been a key part of Israeli expansion into Palestinian territory.
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Last year, Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, a Palestinian academic at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, was detained by police and placed under investigation for terrorism after condemning Israel’s attack on Gaza as genocide.
A full suspension of the association agreement with Israel is unlikely, as it requires unanimity, and could be blocked by Israel supporters such as Hungary.
However, the EU could decide to halt cooperation in certain areas like Horizon Europe to apply diplomatic pressure, according to a briefing by the European Parliament. It only needs a qualified majority to suspend research cooperation, for example.
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