British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will take advantage of his visit to Israel this month to announce a new initiative for academic cooperation between Israel and Britain, as a counterbalance to the boycotts by the Union of Colleges and Universities (UCU), according to the British paper "Jewish Community."
Brown will suggest a program for academic cooperation and lecturer exchanges that will be directed by the British consulate in Israel. The initiative is supported by several governmental, non-governmental and philanthropic bodies, including the Pears Foundation, the Israel-Britain Business Council, The London Mayor's Fund and the United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA).
Pears Foundation largesse
The Pears Foundation will contribute £100,000 pounds annually, for the next five years, and the UJIA will add £50,000 annually. The British Consulate is holding continuous contacts with other potential partners such as the Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport.
The program is intended to improve academic and research ties between the higher learning systems in Israel and Britain. The program will begin operating in the coming academic year after it is ratified by all of the ele
"In Germany, Jews fled even before the Holocaust, and this has an academic name – 'Hitler's gift.' Those who leave will not return."
ments that are connected with the initiative. The British Consulate intends to publish the program's details in full soon.
The new initiative reportedly worries another British body, the Academic Study Group (ASG) for Israel and the Middle East, which was established in 1977 for similar purposes. The ASG will send five work groups of British academicians to Israel this year. It is said to be concerned that the new initiative will cause it to lose its donations.
Brain drain: like 1930s Germany?
Several prominent figures from Israel's academic circle held a news conference Monday and warned of the effect of the "brain drain" on Israel. Nobel Prize winner Prof. Aharon Tzechanover said that the higher learning system is the most important one in the state, yet "for years it is being gnawed at." He said there was an atmosphere of opposition to the academia among the general population.
Tzechanover went so far as to make a comparison to Nazi Germany: "People are under pressure, they are persecuted, especially scientists. In Germany there was a terrible and extreme case in which extreme pressure caused scientists to escape. In Germany, Jews fled even before the Holocaust, and this has an academic name – 'Hitler's gift.' What good is your work? Those who leave will not return. They are gnawing at another element upon which the State of Israel stands."
The academics' news conference was held to protest the Finance Ministry's stance regarding the implementation of the Shochat Report, which includes pay raises for lecturers and funds for development and enlargement of the universities.