European Academics Boycotting Israeli Researchers Since Oct. 7 War

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A new report published by Israel’s Innovation, Science and Technology Ministry shows that, since the Oct. 7 massacre which triggered the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, academic researchers from European countries have been increasingly unwilling to cooperate with their Israeli counterparts, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports. The boycott primarily affects research in the fields of medicine, biology, physics, space, and computer science.

According to the Innovation Ministry’s report, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, and Ireland are leading a boycott of cooperation with Israeli researchers, TOI said. Italian and Belgian researchers, too, have joined the boycott.

A summary of the report published Thursday by Israel’s Channel 13 TV news station showed that 38 percent of Israeli research is carried out together with European researchers, and that this cooperation reached its highest level yet in 2023, TOI said.

However, since Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza was triggered by the Palestinian terror group’s murder of (according to current tallies made without knowing how many hostages have survived) 1,068 mostly civilian Israelis and 71 foreigners on Oct. 7, 2023, funding for joint research between Israel and European countries has been reduced and there have been fewer exchanges between respective academics, TOI reports.

Israel’s Science and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel has announced she will begin working with the Foreign Ministry and appoint a committee to address the matter, TOI said.

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