Seven Israeli Nobel Prize winners today sent a letter to President Herzog, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and Education Minister Yoav Kisch calling on them to immediately stop the legislation that, according to them, would harm the independence of the National Library and its administrative structure.
In their letter they write, "We are witnessing a real threat hovering over the independent character of the National Library and we are anxious about it becoming a tool in the hands of the government.... We are deeply concerned about the very existence of the library and fear that this step is the warning that heralds a deliberate and severe harm to the Israeli academic community, which may result in the need to take additional measures that will harm academic freedom."
The letter is signed by Prof. Avraham Hershko, Prof. Aryeh Warshel, Prof. Ada Yonat, Prof. Daniel Kahneman, Prof. Michael Levit, Prof. Aharon Chachanover, and Prof. Roger Kornberg.