The Committee of University Heads (VERH) this week published a report titled “The Fight Against the Academic Boycott” (Summer–Autumn 2025), which focuses on coping with the continued escalation of academic boycott incidents in European countries.
The collected data show a sharp increase in reported boycott cases since the outbreak of the “Iron Swords” war. The boycott in Europe remains a problematic and highly significant factor, with the total number of reported cases now approaching roughly 1,000; a full quarter of them occurred in the last three months alone, most of them in Europe.
Contrary to earlier forecasts, the cessation of hostilities and diplomatic efforts have not led to containment or a decline in the frequency of boycotts; if anything, the opposite has happened. Moreover, it appears that Israel’s negative image in Europe has solidified, and political measures alone are insufficient to change the entrenched public perception.
In Italy, for example, a particularly sharp and significant surge in boycott reports has been recorded, influenced, among other things, by the domestic political discourse surrounding the Gaza war and nationwide protests.
The report emphasizes that the academic boycott is alarmingly expanding beyond the exclusion of individual researchers (57% of current cases) to the institutional level and to broad international programs. A disturbing trend is the rising number of European universities imposing a complete academic boycott on Israeli institutions.
In addition, Israeli researchers are being explicitly or covertly excluded from European research programs, especially Horizon Europe. To date, around 20 Israeli partnerships funded under this program are being boycotted, mainly in Spain, Belgium, and Italy. This substantial expansion, which now includes boycotts by professional academic associations in various fields (such as archaeology, medicine, and communication), threatens to dangerously isolate Israeli academia and poses a real strategic threat to its international standing.
According to the anti-boycott team’s assessment, the boycott phenomenon will continue to accompany Israeli academia for a long time, and pressure is expected to increase, with criticism of Israel likely to intensify even after the fighting ends.
The team’s recommendation is to develop a long-term strategy focused on strengthening existing academic ties and continuously investing in public-diplomacy and outreach efforts.
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