Yeshiva University has requested that it be included on the list of Israeli universities that British academics are proposing to boycott. In statement released by the university Monday, university President Richard Joel blasted the proposed boycott, calling it a “hypocritical act” and a “threat to open societies.” “This boycott is a threat not only to Israeli academics but also to open societies everywhere,” Joel said. “As president of Yeshiva University, an American university that has immutable ties to Israel, I proudly add our institution to the roster of universities on the boycott list and decline to participate in any activity from which Israeli academics are excluded.” The Y.U. statement comes amid a growing backlash against the boycott of Israeli academic institutions proposed late last month by the University and College Union, Britain s largest university teachers association. Through advertising campaigns and articles in leading journals, Jewish leaders have fired back at an initiative that even many British academics are said to oppose. The presidents of Britain s leading research universities also issued a statement opposing the move, and members of the British government have also come out against it.
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