More than 400 Jewish and Israel studies academics have signed a statement denouncing a potential Israeli move to apply sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria as “apartheid” and say it would be a “crime against humanity” according to international statutes.
“Representing a spectrum of viewpoints, we write in opposition to the continuation of the occupation and the stated intention of the current elected government in Israel to annex parts of the West Bank, thereby formally (de jure) creating apartheid conditions in Israel and Palestine,” the statement reads, according to JTA.
“Under these conditions, annexation of Palestinian territories will cement into place an anti-democratic system of separate and unequal law and systemic discrimination against the Palestinian population,” it continues.
The statement was published on a special website in English, Hebrew and Arabic.
The letter was signed by a range of left-wing Jewish studies scholars across North America, Europe and Israel. They include prominent professors such as New York University’s Hasia Diner, Stanford’s Steven Zipperstein and Dartmouth’s Susannah Heschel.
It follows the coalition agreement between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz, which stipulates that the government can apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria in July.
While the move has been met with outrage in Europe and the Arab world, a recent poll conducted by the Maagar Mochot Institute for the Samaria Regional Council, found that 68% of the Jewish public in the State of Israel favored sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)