Imagine a situation in which a student who fought in Gaza or a student who lost a family member in the terrible massacre returns to school and meets alongside them a student who supported Hamas during the war. Now open your eyes: this is a completely realistic situation.
We must not agree to this situation, and therefore the State of Israel must act now to prevent the crisis that lurks the day after. Think about the dangers of such a situation and what events such as Memorial Day or Nakba Day might look like in universities in the coming school year.
In Israel, academic institutions enjoy "full academic freedom." There is no doubt that this academic freedom is extremely important and is one of the reasons for the high academic level that has developed here.
But to her and a thorn in her. When the fighting began, when we were all exposed to inciting and terror-supporting activities by students and even academic staff members, the CHE demanded that all institutions submit reports on cases of incitement and support for terrorism.
Because of this academic freedom, the Committee of University Heads (VERA) strongly opposed interference in matters that happen to them "at home." This has created a situation in which there are institutions that have indeed dealt harshly with these serious cases, but there are also those who preferred to turn a blind eye or roll them on.
Moreover, there is another objective problem in the treatment of academic staff who, due to academic freedom, cannot be removed or suspended without payment of a substantial compensation package. This has led to an absurd situation in which since the beginning of the war we have encountered weak condemnations by institutions against staff members who express themselves and conduct themselves in a severe manner, instead of imposing harsh and significant sanctions against them, such as suspensions and dismissals.
The Israeli government must accept responsibility and set clear and transparent rules for the boundaries of freedom of expression and the line drawn between expressing a legitimate opinion and supporting or diverting terrorism.
At the same time, they must legislate strict and clear sanctions, in order to provide academic institutions with effective tools to eradicate such cases by students and academic staff, and even to suspend and dismiss them when necessary. If creating legislation in the current period is a complicated and impossible operation, this should be corrected by emergency regulations. What is clear is that the issue must be settled, and the speed of response is critical.
One more point to consider: Germany and France have already passed bills that show zero tolerance for support for Hamas and terrorism. You will understand the magnitude of the absurdity - in a country that has undergone one of the largest murderous events in history and is currently at war with the same terrorist organization, there are no clear rules prohibiting support for this despicable organization and there are no tools to prevent it, while in European countries there is a clear prohibition.
The government of Israel must accept responsibility, set clear and transparent rules for the boundaries of freedom of expression and the line drawn between expressing a legitimate opinion and supporting or diverting to terrorism
What message do we convey to the world in general, and to the many universities around the world in particular, which are themselves dealing with a wave of anti-Semitism, and what message do we convey to our students who are on the battlefield and risk their lives fighting against Hamas?
Academia is a central point of interface between the various sectors of Israeli society (even more than the army). We need to preserve this versatility, and the only way to do that is to treat the weeds sharply and pointedly.
If we deal with these cases when we are in the depths of the school year, there is a good chance that it will be too late. You don't have to go far, we saw what happened at Netanya College just a few weeks ago.
Let's prevent the next crisis and deal with those who threaten to harm the uniqueness of Israeli academia.
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