oatmealReport: Even after the war ended [*], the academic boycott of Israel is intensifying
Israel's "Task Force for Combating the Academic Boycott of the Association of University Heads" warns in a report published today that the academic boycott of Israel could lead it into dangerous scientific isolation.
According to the VERA (Association of University Heads) report published today (May 14, 2026), Israel's academic boycott is accelerating, not slowing.
#Belgium, #Netherlands, #UK, #Spain, and Italy lead the boycott activity. Germany and Italy have so far blocked EU-level sanctions on Israel, but the pressure at the institutional level keeps building regardless of what governments do.
Horizon Europe "the crown jewel" is slipping. Attempts to exclude Israel from the EU's €95.5B research program surged 150% in the last six months. Israel's participation has already halved - from €303M in grants (2022) to €119M (2025). The next Horizon agreements are up for renewal in 2027-2028, and the EU is openly questioning whether Israel shares the "values" required to stay in.
The "ceasefire" changed nothing. The assumption that stopping the bombing of Gaza would reverse the boycott was wrong. The boycott movement "quickly adjusted" - citing the war on Iran, operations in Lebanon, settlement expansion in the West Bank, the death penalty bill for Palestinians, and Knesset members openly endorsing violence against Palestinians.
It's not just symbolic. 1,120 boycott incidents recorded. 41% involved suspension of active research cooperation. 29% involved physical disruption of lectures and conferences. 9% involved damage to research grants. Individual researcher boycotts (57% of cases in 2024-25) are now shifting to institutional and professional association level boycotts - a structural escalation.
Israel's identification with the US under Trump is compounding the damage. European resentment of Trump's foreign policy (tariffs, NATO hostility, Venezuela/Iran adventurism) spills onto Israel, which is seen as Washington's fully aligned proxy. The EU is asking whether shared values still exist.
#BDS is "working as designed." The BDS movement explicitly states its academic boycott campaign has "pushed Israel to the margins" of Horizon Europe. The report concedes there's "no substitute" for Horizon - Asian partnerships can't replace it. Israel faces irreversible scientific isolation.
[...] VERA warns that scientific research in Israel depends on Israeli researchers' connections with colleagues abroad. Participation in the Horizon program provides not only an irreplaceable boost of valuable funding, but also allows Israeli researchers to form research partnerships, interact with researchers from European and non-European countries, and influence the continent's scientific-academic agenda from within.
41% - Suspension of Cooperation: This is the most common type of incident. It refers to the explicit and tangible severance of research partnerships and collaborations.
29% - Disruption of Lectures & Conferences: The second-largest category, this involves public actions aimed at preventing Israeli academics from speaking or participating in academic events.
9% - Damage to Grants: Direct harm to the funding of Israeli research projects.
9% - "Antisemitic" Comments: Incidents involving explicitly antisemitic rhetoric.
7% - Difficulty in Publications: Obstacles faced by Israeli academics in getting their work published in academic journals.
5% - Peer Review: Refusal by international academics to peer-review research submitted by their Israeli colleagues.
Via [Hebrew] https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/education/2026-05-14/ty-article/.premium/0000019e-22e5-d618-adde-32f7f4e70000
See also English report https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hkree0fyme (Haaretz contextualizes the boycott by reporting what Israel did to provoke it, while right-wing nationalistic Ynet frames the boycott as an irrational hate campaign ["Hatred map," "improper discrimination," antisemitism emphasis] with Israel as a passive victim.)
* Yep, the war has ended [=ceasefire] according to VERA
* VERA (ור"ה) = ועד ראשי האוניברסיטאות = Association of University Heads, Israel. A voluntary body of the presidents, rectors, and directors-general of Israel's research universities (#Technion, Hebrew University, Weizmann, Tel Aviv, Bar-Ilan, Haifa, Ben-Gurion, Open University, Ariel [Occupied West Bank]).
The Electronic Intifada [Unofficial]
SciPost Physics
Estelle Platini
Estelle Platini