Opinion The Bolsheviks in the academy are shocked: someone dares to disagree with them Israel today

The rise of Ariel College in Samaria to the distinguished status of a university was not easy: it was established in 1982 as a college.

In 2005, under the guidance of the Sharon government, it was decided to upgrade it to a university, and in the meantime it was content with the title "university center", and that was not easy either, as the Council for Higher Education did not see the title favorably.

When in 2011 the government approved granting the professors at Ariel the title of "Professor", the MLA imposed its own demands, and raised cries of protest every time Ariel University moved up the ladder. All the universities in Israel - with the exception of Bar Ilan - petitioned the High Court against the conversion of the academic center at Ariel to the university, and after the petition was rejected - the other universities still refused to share it in some of their institutions.

They opposed the establishment of a medical school in Ariel, expressed fear of harming international cooperation - since Ariel is in Samaria - and treated it as the black sheep in the diamond crown of the Israeli Academy.

And here, the years passed.

In 2022, Ariel was finally added to the Committee of Heads of Universities (VRA), and the Netanyahu government was elected with a convincing majority. In 2023, Yariv Levin launched the legal reform, and Ariel University forgot the obstacles that other universities placed before it, and joined the VRA petition against the reform .

The president of Bar-Ilan, the only university that did not join the petitions against Ariel, also got on the right bandwagon.

"The looming reform of the legal system could result in fatal damage to the Israeli academy," said the Reverend Rabbi in chorus, and Ariel University joined in the warning that because of the reform - Israel will be "excluded from the global academy" - the same reasoning used by the universities in the past, when they did not want to include Ariel.

The heads of Ariel University forgot the fact that over the years it was elected officials who established and promoted it, despite the persistent objections of the heads of the universities, who may have been right then just as they are right now in their resolute opposition to the legal reform.

Thanks to right-wing elected officials who stood up to the stubborn campaign of the university heads, Ariel currently has 14 thousand students, and also a faculty of medicine.

And yet - on the day of the order, its leaders show up to sign another hysterical petition against the right-wing government.

Vara is not the only spire in the ivory tower that loudly warned against the disaster of the reform: all the deans of the law faculties were alarmed, and of course they made sure to include the reform under the neutral title "systematic revolutions". The basic principles of the method".

Not the democratic system of course, since "it is not enough to hold regular hearings in the Knesset committees".

Their concern was also recorded that one of the severe consequences of the reform would be "to disproportionately favor the Jewish religion at the expense of recognizing the religious and social diversity in the country".

The sharp-eyed will notice another term loved by the High Court of Justice: "proportionate." The signatories also added "long-term damage to Israel's security and economy" to the compilation of the mitzvah. So be it, why not.

And they are not alone.

One by one, all the universities came forward to protest the reform, citing different reasons.

The president of the Technion, Prof. Uri Sion, warned against harming academic freedom, and for many minutes he was unable to explain to Kalman Libeskind in "Kan 11" - how and why such harm results from the reform.

But trust him - he knows.

The academic elite finds it difficult to recognize the existence of a public that brazenly uses freedom of thought to disagree with it

The members of the research and teaching faculty at Tel Aviv University drafted an opinion (which is always respected and more valid than just an "opinion"), in which the magic words "fatal damage to democracy", "Declaration of Independence", "predatory power to the government and the Knesset", "politicization of the universities" are interwoven. "Momentary parliamentary majority" and most importantly: "across party boundaries" and "we, who hold a variety of political opinions".

Yes, of course.

As diverse as the Supreme Court.

Oh, and also "trampling the democratic principles and rules of the game" and "tangible danger to the future of the country".

Even if there is no research here, at least there is a prophecy.

The faculty members attached to their (one) opinion disclosure a heartfelt request "to sign and distribute it among other research and teaching faculty members at Tel Aviv University, who may be interested in signing it."

In good taste, the drafters of the opinion refrained from implying what will happen to those who are not interested in signing, and what their chances for promotion or tenure will be.

There are things that don't need to be said out loud.

will understand

I wonder what the heads of the academic elite mean when they talk about academic freedom and serious damage to democracy, international relations, the quality of research, and perhaps also to angora kittens.

Their salaries are paid from the public's pocket, and yet they seem to have difficulty acknowledging the existence of a public that brazenly uses freedom of thought to support reforms in the justice system on the one hand, and on the other - refuses to be convinced by the apocalyptic rhetoric of its lecturers, its deans and the presidents of all universities.

How much freedom of thought can be found at a conference held this week at the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University, where all the speakers signed a petition against the reform, with arguments such as "shocking and dangerous" and "the loss of the democratic structure of the state"?

There is probably not even one lecturer in the entire Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University who has a different opinion.

The majority of the public supports the amendments, but this should not worry anyone, since the majority is the enemy of essential democracy, the one that preserves the rights of minorities - especially righteous minorities with academic positions.

The problem for the heads of the universities is the students: they are not completely on board.

A survey conducted by the student union revealed that 56 percent of the students support the reform, 54 percent oppose the demonstrations against it, and 40 percent of the students believe that the academic staff is biased in favor of the opponents of the legal reform.

No wonder you have to shout loudly in their ears - because the arguments, as far as they exist, are taken from the nightmarish worlds of the elite.

The justice system belongs exclusively to her, and now to her dismay she finds that she has to share it with other citizens.

And this may not be a danger to democracy, but certainly a danger to the Bolshevism of the Academy. 

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