Israeli Education Minister Threatens to Cut University Funding Over Political Activity

Israeli Education Minister Yoav Kisch has threatened to advance legislation that would deny funding to universities and colleges unless they commit to keeping politics out of academia. Kisch confirmed a report that he sent a letter to the heads of Israeli universities and colleges demanding they pledge by Thursday to refrain from expressing official political positions, prevent politically motivated strikes and ensure uninterrupted academic activity.

He said that for academic institutions that enter the political arena, legislation would be advanced to deny them funding. “We are putting an end to the politicization of university presidents,” Kisch stated in a post on X. “If they are interested in promoting a political agenda, they are welcome to resign from their positions and run in elections,” he added.

Background on the Legislation If the presidents refused to sign the pledge, Kisch said he would support legislation proposed by a fellow Likud Party lawmaker that would impose financial penalties on their institutions. The lawmaker told a broadcaster that over the past 50 years, the funds of Israeli academia have not been managed by the government and have not been supervised by the Knesset.

The lawmaker said this caused severe politicization within Israeli academia. “The law that I submitted does two things. First, it returns the funds to government management and Knesset oversight, and second, it uproots politics from Israeli academia,” the lawmaker added.

Israeli coalition lawmakers have accused the country’s universities of fostering left-wing activism, particularly during the mass protests against the 2023 attempt to reform the judiciary. In March 2025, eight presidents of Israel’s research universities published an open letter threatening a strike and urging others to follow their example should the government fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

Ten heads of Israeli colleges followed the university presidents in declaring that they would launch major protest actions if the government dismissed Baharav-Miara. The protest letter by the university presidents was signed by eight of nine members belonging to the Association of University Heads, including the presidents of the Hebrew University, the Technion, Tel Aviv University and the University of Haifa.

The president of Ariel University was the lone holdout who did not sign the letter.