Academic boycotts of Israel triple

The Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Monday that since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, around 1,000 instances of academic disengagement have been recorded against Israeli researchers and scientific institutions — three times the number reported in the previous year.

Israeli academics have described the current situation as “the worst period of academic boycotts” and warned that Israel’s research sector is now at risk.

Ariel Porat, president of Tel Aviv University, said:

“We are in the worst situation of academic boycotts, something we haven’t experienced in the past two years. We hope things will improve once the war ends, but hostility toward Israel continues.”

The report adds that the heads of several Israeli universities have formed a special committee to collect reports of academic boycotts and to counter the trend through foreign legal teams and public diplomacy efforts.

According to Haaretz, beyond the academic sphere, Israel is also facing growing isolation in political, cultural, and sports arenas, with its teams barred or boycotted in several international competitions.