The Post reached out to Riemer after he posted on LinkedIn about being rejected from an academic conference last month. The rejection letter explained that priority was given to submissions that aligned with the conference\u2019s theme. However, Riemer felt this was odd, as his paper did fit the theme. He, therefore, decided to ask the organizers for clarification.<\/p>\n
Two weeks later, he received a detailed response. The organizers acknowledged that the rejection had not been based on the quality or relevance of his submission, but instead on their own interpretation of the conference sponsor\u2019s policy regarding institutional cooperation with Israeli universities. They admitted this was a mistake and re-invited him. Riemer accepted.<\/p>\n
However, less than a month later, he was informed that the conference board concluded that they could not accommodate his participation in person because of security concerns.<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/438338.jpeg\"\/)
An Israeli flag [Ilustrative] (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM\/THE JERUSALEM POST)<\/p>\n
In part, Riemer told the Post that he understands the reticence of academic institutions to host Israeli academics. He relayed how, in June 2024, during an exchange in Germany, anti-Israel protesters \u201czoomed in\u201d on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey picked up on me, and they published this open letter to the president of the university with a very detailed resume of what I did. My involvement with Israeli intelligence and so on. But my hosts were very resolved on hosting me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then I realized what a headache it was for hosts, for organizers, and so on. So, if you can have an American scholar write the chapter on Israeli intelligence, and not invite them to a workshop or a conference when writing a book together, then it\u2019s less of a headache. Just to not get in trouble, not with students, not with faculty, colleagues, protest movements, security risks, and so on. Avoid stones being thrown at the classroom, and conference panels being disrupted by protesters – you just don\u2019t invite the Israelis<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Last year, Riemer\u2019s workshop at a European university\u00a0was canceled because two colleagues raised doubts that it was an institutional cooperation rather than an individual-based cooperation.<\/p>\n It’s not possible to exclude Israeli scholars in questions of warfare and intelligence<\/p>\n He referred to this phenomenon as \u201cthe silent boycott.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cInvitations not being extended, talks being canceled, allegedly for some kind of a bureaucratic reason like security concerns,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Other associations were far more direct with their rejections, such as the European International Studies Association (EISA), Riemer continued.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m part of the intelligence section, or I submit to the intelligence section,\u201d he explained. \u201cI know that it\u2019s led by politically active scholars. And they just rejected two of my submissions. They didn\u2019t even cite a reason like the small association that rejected me.\u201d<\/p>\n He said that hostility towards Israeli academics is especially prevalent from European institutions, while relations with American bodies are relatively stable.<\/p>\n Despite intentions to push Israeli voices and scholars out of international academic narratives, Riemer says it is not possible to \u201cshun Israeli scholars if you\u2019re studying conflict warfare, intelligence, and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re kind of the laboratory of the world in that regard,\u201d he said. \u201cIn intelligence studies, and international studies, Israeli voices cannot really be ignored and dismissed because this is what people are writing about now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI would like to see more cooperation between Israeli scholars and other international scholars, which is something that we see less of.\u201d<\/p>\n Riemer said that the attempts to de-platform him \u2013 even though he bases a lot of his research on the intelligence and policy failures of the current government \u2013 has actually made him feel closer to his Israeli identity.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m starting to identify as Israeli first and not as an academic. I think I even told them that they\u2019re putting us between a rock and a hard place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n