New Report: Academia under Command: Militarism in Israeli Academia

New Profile – The Movement to Demilitarize Israeli Society has released a new report titled Academia under Command: Militarism in Israeli Academia, detailing extensive collaboration between academic institutions, the military, arms industry, the Israel Security Agency (ISA, also known as the Shin Bet) and Mossad in Israel.

The study included Freedom of Information (FOI) requests from various authorities and academic institutions, interviews with faculty, students and former military cadets, and analysis of open source data.

“The extensive military-academic collaborations our report documents provide clear evidence of the longstanding and multilayered complicity of Israeli academia in the state’s systematic military violence,” said Nissi Peli, the report’s researcher and author. “This is particularly true in the wake of the scholasticide in Gaza, carried out as part of Israel’s broader genocidal campaign, which has included the killing of thousands of students and academics, as well as the physical destruction of almost all of Gaza’s academic institutions.”

“In addition to presenting the direct complicity of Israeli academia with the state’s military apparatus, it also offers a partial explanation for its [Israeli academia’s] silence in face of this destruction,” added Peli. “We therefore believe that the publication is especially important at this time, when there is growing international demand for accountability from Israeli society and its institutions. We encourage the international academic community to engage with the Palestinian-led calls to break institutional relations with complicit Israeli institutions and we hope this report supports these efforts.”

The 169-page report examines:

• Military-academic collaboration in academic programs and curriculum, primarily through training for troops destined for various military roles

• Military-academic collaboration in recruitment of youth to the military

• Joint military-academic research & development of arms

• Militarisation of academic spaces, including de facto military bases on campuses

• Active recruitment of students on academic campuses into the arms industry and state security and intelligence agencies.

• Discrimination in student admissions and student eligibility for housing

• Exclusion of students, silencing of academics, and military indoctrination

New Profile calls on non-Israeli academic institutions, funding agencies, academic associations, and individual scholars, to:

• Demand information and accountability from partner academic institutions in Israel regarding their collaboration with the Israeli Ministry of Defense, military, state security and intelligence bodies (ISA and Mossad) and the arms industry

• Reexamine collaboration with academic institutions in Israel, specific programs and individual academics who cooperate with the aforementioned bodies and companies

• Discuss academic freedom and complicity with colleagues and students

• Actively support Palestinian academia and academics and engage with the Palestinian-led calls to break institutional relations with complicit Israeli institutions

The full report, including methodology and recommendations, is available here: Academia under Command: Militarism in Israeli Academia