Professors Urge Finance Minister to Use the “Nakba Law” Against Tel Aviv University

The Forum of Professors for National Resilience announced today (Monday) that it had sent an urgent letter to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich demanding that he invoke the “Nakba Law” and strip funding from Tel Aviv University. The demand follows a protest by Arab students held last week, during which calls were reportedly heard praising shahids.

The forum flatly rejected the university administration’s claim that the event took place outside the campus gates, and called for an immediate process to impose the maximum possible budget reduction on the institution. According to the letter, during the protest, which marked “Nakba Day,” blunt calls were heard for the release of terrorists and the glorification of “shahids.”

The letter, signed by members of the forum’s leadership, states that “the event completely falls outside the bounds of freedom of expression. On its face, this was not a legitimate academic protest, but an event that directly relates to the grounds set out in the law: marking the day of the state’s establishment as a day of mourning, incitement or support for terror, and support for an armed struggle or an act of terror against the State of Israel.”

The forum is demanding that Smotrich activate Section 3B of the Budget Foundations Law, known as the “Nakba Law,” which allows the government to reduce funding to institutions that mark Independence Day as a day of mourning or incite terrorism. “An academic institution funded by public money cannot enjoy budgetary immunity while, under its auspices, within its institutional environment, or with its direct or indirect assistance, a display of identification with Israel’s enemies and with terrorists is taking place,” the letter says.

At the end of the letter, the forum calls on the finance minister to order the immediate opening of an official process, including the collection of data on the university’s involvement, including an examination of the use of its resources, permits, facilities, or security systems, the obtaining of a legal opinion, and the imposition of the maximum budget reduction on the academic institution.