Published: 11 May 2021
Last updated: 4 March 2024
The Education Ministry is withholding the Israel Prize over claims of BDS support. Professor Oded Goldreich's lawyer said he refuses to attend the hearing
PROFESSOR ODED GOLDREICH, whose receipt of the Israel Prize in mathematics and computer science was revoked by Education Minister Yoav Gallant, was summoned to a hearing by the Education Ministry this week to discuss petitions and open letters he has signed over the last 15 years related to boycotts of Israel.
The summons, issued by Gallant, was part of the ministry’s examination of whether Goldreich, a professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science, should be awarded the prestigious prize in light of claims that he supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.
Following objections from Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit, Gallant scrapped his initial plan to hold an in-person hearing. Instead, Goldreich was asked for a written response to the accusations against him.
Goldreich’s lawyer, Michael Sfard, said the hearing has “no legal point” and announced that his client won’t cooperate with “the blatantly McCarthyist nature of the process.”
The summons, signed by Gallant’s adviser on the Israel Prize, David Pelber, said that a decision on whether to award Goldreich the prize had yet been made. It asked him to explain his reasons for signing six petitions and open letters, as well as his position on them “at the time you signed them and today.”
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