Far-right Education Minister Yoav Kisch threatened on Tuesday, May 13, to revoke funding for Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) and Tel Aviv University (TAU) over Hadash and Arab student rallies commemorating the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” the Arabic term for the expulsion and exodus of some 700,000 Palestinians during 1948 War. Students at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem held a Nakba ceremony on Monday, and Tel Aviv University students are set to hold one today, on Wednesday. During the Nakba Day at HU one student was brutally detained by cops.
Demonstrators protest calling to end the war in Gaza during the Nakba Day at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. May 12, 2025 (Photo: Flash90)
“Academia is not a platform for incitement under the guise of freedom of expression,” Kisch wrote in a post on X, adding that he had appealed to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to revoke funding for the universities. Smotrich later said in a statement that he supported the move and would “instruct the professional authorities to immediately act on revoking the funding.” Smotrich would have difficulty revoking the schools’ budgets under the so-called Nakba Law, legislation passed in 2011 that empowers the finance minister to penalize institutions that fund activities marking Israeli Independence Day as a “day of mourning.”
Both HU and TAU said in statements that they supported their students’ right to mark the Nakba, and called Kisch’s threats illegal. The universities rejected Kisch’s threat, saying they supported their students’ freedom of speech. “This directive is without any legal foundation or statutory support. The Hebrew University is committed to fostering coexistence across all sectors of Israeli society. As part of its dedication to freedom of expression, the University ensures that diverse voices can be heard – embracing complexity in dialogue and encouraging mutual respect,” a statement from HU read. “
“Section 5 of the Student Rights Law explicitly guarantees, among other protections, the right to demonstrate – a right exercised this week by students from across the political spectrum,” HU said.
TAU also condemned Kisch’s call to cut funding, writing in a statement, “Tel-Aviv University strongly rejects the education minister’s threats to take illegal actions and cut the university’s funding.” The university also addressed the legality of allowing students to host Nakba Day events, “As for the matter itself: According to Israeli law, demonstrations organized by students on Nakba Day at most universities in Israel are protected under the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of protest.”
Fascist student group Im Tirtzu, which has helped draft a bill to fire teachers the far-right government accuses of “support for terrorism,” held a counterdemonstration at the Jerusalem Nakba ceremony, and plans to hold one today in Tel-Aviv. Past campus Nakba memorial demonstrations have seen violence erupt between Hadash and Arab protesters and fascists counter-protesters
Hadash and Arab student groups at HU said Monday that commemorating Nakba Day was even more essential this year, “as the genocide against our people in Gaza continues.” “Let us raise our voices against this genocide and displacement,” a statement from the groups said, adding that they would pass the day reading letters and poems from people in the Strip, which has been devastated by 19 months of war sparked by the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023.”
In addition, and under the title “Israel’s Anti-education Ministers Align to Silence Dissent,” today’s Haaretz editorial said “Kisch called on Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Tuesday to revoke funding from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University, claiming that the institutions held events marking Nakba Day, or as Kisch described it – extreme left-wing ideological brainwashing.”
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=31011
