‘Draconian’ bill to suppress free speech in Israel higher education gains approval

A controversial “draconian and McCarthyist” bill requiring institutions of higher education in Israel to fire teaching staff who express “support for terror” has passed its first reading in the Knesset yesterday. The bill, which has received backing from both opposition and coalition lawmakers, represents a significant threat to free speech, according to critics.

The proposed legislation grants the Council for Higher Education in Israel, chaired by the education minister, the authority to order the dismissal of academic staff for making political remarks deemed supportive of terrorism. In Israel, “support for terror” is a vague term often weaponised to silence critics. If dismissed under this bill, faculty members would be denied severance pay, and state funding to their institutions could be cut.

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This move has been met with fierce opposition from academic circles. The coordinating committee of Israel’s faculty unions has already announced plans to declare a labour dispute, potentially leading to a strike in protest of the bill.

The bill’s current version has omitted provisions from an earlier draft that sought to allow for the immediate dismissal of faculty members for statements that “reject Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state”, or that “incite to racism, violence, or terror”. Critics argue that, even without these specific clauses, the bill remains a tool for political suppression.

The Association of University Heads has taken a strong stance against the legislation, sending a request to Knesset legal adviser, Sagit Afik, to intervene. They described the bill as “draconian and McCarthyist”, accusing it of being part of an incitement campaign against faculty members that could incite violence against them.

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In a letter, reported by Haaretz, the Association stated: “While there is no disputing the need to condemn incitement to terrorism, the proposed mechanism is so crude and predatory that it will inevitably lead to a narrowing of a whole range of expressions that have nothing to do with ‘incitement to terrorism.’ Moreover, the decision to focus on higher education is part of a calculated campaign to weaken its institutions.”

The bill’s introduction was spurred by a campaign led by the Chairman of the National Union of Israeli Students, Elhanan Fellheimer, who allocated 500,000 shekels (over $136,000) from the Union’s budget for billboard advertisements. The student union also urged the education minister and the chair of the Knesset education committee to support the bill.

As the bill advances through the Knesset, its potential impact on academic freedom and the suppression of dissenting voices in Israeli higher education and society at large continues to provoke significant concern and debate. Earlier this month, Israel moved to protect hate speech against Palestinian lawmakers under the guise of defending free speech. This action underscores that the purported aim of combating “terrorism” is merely a pretext to shield the apartheid state from any form of criticism.