26 September 2006
Israel’s education minister Yuli Tamir has downplayed a call by 61 Irish academics for their Israeli counterparts to be boycotted. In an open letter published in the "Irish Times" earlier this month, 61 local academics had urged their country, as well as the European Union, to impose a moratorium on ties with Israeli educational institutions until Israel “ends the occupation of Palestinian territories.” The letter also deplored Israel’s “aggression against the people of Lebanon” during the recent war against Hezbollah. Tamir said she would meet with the Irish ambassador to discuss the boycott call but played down its importance. “At this time, I don’t see a real danger to Israel’s academic ties, though any boycott is despicable and we have to make sure it is lifted,” she told "Army Radio".
