MK Amir Ohana (Likud) on Wednesday expressed support for a letter sent to Education Minister Naftali Bennett to students at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in which they urged Bennett to act against what they called the "serious politicization of the university."
Ohana urged Bennett to dismiss the professors at the university who were named in the students' letter.
"When it comes to an institution financed by public funds, it is fitting that those working in it, who actually make their living from public funds, will impose certain state rules on themselves," Ohana wrote to Bennett, while specifically mentioning Prof. Yitzhak Nevo, who was named in the students' letter as well.
"Only two months ago, Prof. Nevo wrote that he would cooperate with BDS activists - a lecturer of this kind has no place in an Israeli public educational institution," he added, demanding an investigation into lecturers who discriminate against students who are active IDF reservists.
"This is a violation of the student's rights rules of 2012 and should be investigated,” wrote Ohana.
In their letter, which was revealed Tuesday on Channel 20, the students not only named professors who are “politicizing” the university, but also noted that the university's administration allows them to accumulate academic credits within the framework of political specialization - in organizations directly connected to the New Israel Fund only.
The Ben-Gurion University of the Negev said in response that "these are recycled, baseless claims, which have no connection to reality and are the result of the initiative of those interested in harming the university."
The university further noted that it operates a program which allows students to volunteer in a wide range of civil society organizations in the south of the country.
“It should be emphasized that this is an elective course, one of many, that the students are not obligated to take. Any attempt to present this information in a biased and manipulative manner is wrong to the facts and to the truth,” it added.