The list of incidents is compiled from reports by Israeli researchers, including refusals for cooperation, the cessation of student exchange programs and refusals to conduct peer reviews, Haaretz reported.
More than 1,000 incidents of academic boycotts against Israelis have been recorded over the past two years, amid the ongoing genocidal assault on Gaza, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
“We’re in the worst situation, from the standpoint of the academic boycott, that we have been in at any time over the last two years,” Professor Ariel Porat, president of Tel Aviv University, was quoted as saying.
Porat added, “We’re still hoping the situation will improve now that the war has ended, but the hostility toward Israel hasn’t gone away.”
Israeli universities seem surprised by the increasing global boycott of Israeli academia. Here is a brief list that shows how embedded Israeli academia in the military industrial complex: 🧵 https://t.co/hOJbz7Cwle
— Nimer Sultany (@NimerSultany) October 27, 2025
The newspaper cited the Association of University Heads as having recorded over 1,000 incidents of boycotts by institutions, professional associations, research groups, or individual researchers over the last two years. The figure “is three times the total as of a year ago.”
Haaretz noted that the list of incidents “is compiled from reports by Israeli researchers who have encountered refusals to cooperate with them or invite them to conferences, whether by other researchers, universities, research institutes or professional associations; refusals by overseas researchers to come to Israel; the cessation of student exchange programs; refusals to conduct peer reviews; delays in the publication of articles; or antisemitic comments aimed at them.”
In reality, however, the “hidden boycott of Israel is much broader,” the report stated.
Research ‘in Danger of Collapsing’
One academic told the paper that “Research in Israel – one of the country’s strategic assets – is in danger of collapsing.”
Another senior academic said that “Israeli researchers have been badly hurt, especially the younger ones, but people don’t say to their faces that it’s because of the government’s policies or the war.”
At Uppsala University’s Week for Academic Freedom, students demanded accountability from principals and academics for refusing to boycott the Israeli occupation. pic.twitter.com/2mJWkrm0MT
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) October 25, 2025
He stressed that there has been “a decline in the scale of research grants from abroad, which stems from the fact that more and more researchers overseas are excluding Israelis from their research.”
Another academic, Professor David Harel, president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, said that “many of the boycotts have a covert character, and we may never really know how much damage they caused. But they will affect Israeli research funding for years to come.”
Forty Universities End Cooperation
According to the paper, around 40 overseas universities have, over the past two years, announced they are “ending cooperation with Israeli institutions either completely or partially.”
Students and professors in Leuven, Belgium, walked out of their courses in solidarity with the Palestinian people and in support of an academic boycott of all Israeli institutions. pic.twitter.com/09qupXuhSz
— Kuffiya (@Kuffiyateam) October 25, 2025
Some senior academics were cited as saying that “their universities are considering forging alternative ties with lower-level institutions in Eastern Europe and Asia if Israeli research is pushed out of Western Europe.” In addition, there is a fear that Israeli researchers may be forced to leave Israel “if they want to avoid harm” to their work and professional development.
‘Even Worse’ in Europe
Professor Milette Shamir of Tel Aviv University told the paper that the situation “is even worse” in Europe compared to the United States.
“There, the boycott is expanding fast. The main victims are younger researchers. This is long-term damage,” she stated.
University of Milan Academic Senate votes unanimously for no ties with Israeli universities or institutions directly or indirectly involved in Israel’s serious human rights violations against Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian West Bank.https://t.co/GzW2dHW7GO pic.twitter.com/8ueUwL83QG
— PACBI – BDS movement (@PACBI) October 20, 2025
No ‘Assistance’ from Government
Porat, meanwhile, was critical of the government saying it “should have defended Israeli science exactly the way it is supposed to defend other Israeli interests.”
He added, “Despite this, we haven’t gotten any assistance from it – not funding for legal battles nor a public diplomacy budget.”
On Boycott, Divesment and Sanctions and the Decolonization of the Palestinian Mind
Haaretz cited a report by the Association of University Heads’ action committee in March, which noted that the largest number of boycott incidents reported between October 2024 and February 2025 was in America (70). Since then, however, “there has been a decline in such incidents in America and a rise in Europe,” including 45 incidents in Spain, 40 each in Britain and Holland, and a 50 percent increase in Belgium with 69 incidents. Incidents were also reported in Italy, Canada and other countries, the report stated.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
“antisemitic comments aimed at them” — ah yes, “antisemitic comments” like “Universities must commit to decolonization by ending material and institutional complicity with Israeli Apartheid.” So, according to Zionlanders, these are “good” comments like “Universities must commit to colonization by supporting material and institutional celebration with Israeli Apartheid.” I especially laugh at “incidents” like “anti-genocide”, ie. “antisemitic comments”. Bullshit! It’s working! Push harder! Sumud, Palestine!!