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Further, Carni was accused of "apathy that has enabled an academic dictatorship to overpower academic freedom."
Ben-Gurion University didn't respond directly, but called the accusations "scandalous," saying they violate "everything that is sacred to academia. The very act of responding to (Im Tirtzu) would give this right-wing organization legitimacy." It deserves condemnation instead.
On August 19, Haaretz writer Or Kashti headlined, "Right-wing groups join forces to fight 'anti-Zionist bias' in Israeli academia," saying:
Besides Im Tirtzu (IT), Institute for Zionist Strategies (IZS) founding chairman, Israel Harel, "recently drafted a report that accused academic institutions of propagating 'post-Zionist bias' in their sociology departments....The campaign....by the two groups has evoked a firestorm of criticism from educators and university administrators," the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities stating:
"In a democratic state, we must vigorously defend with all available means the independence of academic institutions. As such, we cannot accept attempts by external and foreign bodies to intervene in appointing faculty members, determining curricula, and the manner in which material is taught."
Democratic freedoms have greatly eroded under Netanyahu's extremist government, including by the Knesset's proposed Loyalty Oath bill, requiring all Israeli citizens, including Israeli Arabs, swear allegiance to a "Jewish, Zionist, and democratic State," its emblems and values, and perform military or civic service as a condition for a national identity card signifying citizenship.
On July 20, Israel's cabinet approved it, Netanyahu praising a way to maintain Israel's "Jewish and democratic character." The Israeli Association for Civil Rights condemned it, calling it "racist (and) dangerous." The Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel said it would impede family reunifications and pressure non-Jews to support Zionism, effectively renouncing their heritage by doing so.
Other human rights groups and independent observers call Netanyahu's government Israel's most extremist ever, governing far to the right of center, partnered with Yisrael Beitenu, Israel's ultra-right party under Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, an untranationalist/revisionist Zionist, a man Haaretz called "unrestrained and irresponsible."
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