Education minister accused of wanting ‘submissive’ academia

The Committee of University Heads in Israel hit back at Education Minister Yoav Kisch’s criticism of the academy, accusing him of wanting “submissive and controlled” universities in a letter published on Tuesday 30 May, writes Shira Kadari-Ovadia for Haaretz.

This came in response to Kisch’s own letter to the heads of universities in Israel, which accused them of “losing their way” and “gagging an entire political camp”. This was also prompted by protests at Tel Aviv University against the chairman of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, Simcha Rothman, one of the leading figures behind the government’s controversial judicial overhaul.

The heads of the universities said that Kisch wants to block universities from participating in public debate, and to create an atmosphere in which they will “fear criticising the government, or associate with any public discourse that is inconvenient,” for Kisch and other politicians. The letter also slammed the coalition’s “general attitude toward academia”, and called for the bill to ban the waving of Palestinian flags on campuses to be removed from the government’s agenda.
Full report on the Haaretz site