{"id":613035,"date":"2026-09-11T17:44:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T17:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/613035\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T17:44:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T17:44:18","slug":"academic-boycotts-leave-israeli-scientists-out-of-vital-regional-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/613035\/","title":{"rendered":"Academic boycotts leave Israeli scientists out of vital regional research"},"content":{"rendered":"

The need for coordination is not limited to the sea. Almost any significant environmental crisis in the region can cross borders and affect neighboring countries, including Israel. But the past several years of war and the academic boycott of Israel have made scientific and professional ties with countries in the region even more difficult \u2014 including countries with which Israel maintains diplomatic relations.<\/p>\n

Algae on Palmachim Beach<\/p>\n

(Credit: Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Regarding the marine environment and ties with neighboring Arab countries, Dr. Shevy Rothman of Tel Aviv University\u2019s Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, who researches fish, said: \u201cThe difficulties are nothing new. It\u2019s not just because of the war. This goes back much further. In the past, there were researchers we could at least communicate with to some extent. When it comes to marine issues, you really shouldn\u2019t be constrained by national borders because our problem is the same problem neighboring countries will face. We often find ourselves in a bind because they are unwilling to cooperate with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u05d4\u05d7\u05d5\u05e7\u05e8\u05d9\u05dd<\/a>\"\u05d4\u05d7\u05d5\u05e7\u05e8\u05d9\u05dd<\/p>\n

Pollution crosses borders. Murky water at Palmachim earlier this month <\/p>\n

(Photo: Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research)<\/p>\n

Dr. Rothman added: \u201cThere is a Lebanese marine researcher with whom researchers in Israel had some form of communication, even if not directly, through joint publications. A few years ago, he largely disavowed that arrangement, and whenever there was regional cooperation, he said that if we were listed on the paper, he would withdraw from it. Usually, if it is a regional effort involving several researchers, they won\u2019t remove the Lebanese researcher. They\u2019ll remove the Israeli researcher. We know that in Lebanon they are prohibited from having contact with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regarding researchers from Jordan, Dr. Rothman said: \u201cIn Jordan, there are some who continue to cooperate to this day. It has held up there, but it depends more on the individual researcher. Some Jordanian researchers will boycott us and others will cooperate.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Dr. Rothman, the past three years of war have led to a deterioration in communication and the exclusion of Israeli researchers from regional collaborations. She herself was supposed to take part in a delegation to a conference in Djibouti in November 2023, which was, of course, canceled.<\/p>\n

\u201cDjibouti decided right at the beginning of the war to side with the Palestinians and said it was unwilling to have Israeli citizens on its soil,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

On the importance of cooperation, Dr. Rothman added: \u201cMy agenda in life is science. I don\u2019t live in a bubble. I live in this region.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said a paper with numerous authors was published in recent weeks that included regional maps showing reports and trends from countries throughout the region. Yet despite Israel being an important center for science and research, it appeared as a blank space, with Israeli researchers not even approached to participate.<\/p>\n

The study was published by a Greek researcher, and when he was contacted and asked why Israel had not been included, it became apparent that he effectively had no choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cScientifically, it presents a picture that simply isn\u2019t accurate. They\u2019re ignoring Israel,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Did<\/a>\"Did<\/p>\n

Did the pollution come from there? A beach in the Gaza Strip <\/p>\n

(Photo: Reuters)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a terrible shame for many reasons,\u201d Dr. Rothman said. \u201cWe really are one of the most important places for marine research in the region. Israel has some of the highest-quality research institutions. There are many extremely critical changes taking place in the sea here, and we could be the ideal platform for taking part in a regional effort on everything related to nature conservation and marine research. Instead, we are being excluded from many studies. It\u2019s often very frustrating, but we continue our work until the storm passes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is there anything that can be done about the situation?<\/p>\n

Dr. Zafrir Kuplik, a jellyfish researcher and curator of the cnidarian collection at Tel Aviv University\u2019s Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, said that before the past several years of war, there had been an attempt in his field to establish ties with researchers in Egypt.<\/p>\n

\u201cA country with which, ostensibly, on paper, we have peace,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the Egyptians don\u2019t cooperate. If there were cooperation \u2014 wow \u2014 for me, that would be a very big deal for jellyfish research, but no contact was established.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Kuplik said personal connections are sometimes formed at workshops and conferences, including one such relationship with a researcher from Tunisia. He said she had never told him there was a problem working with Israelis in the field.<\/p>\n

\"sea<\/a>\"sea<\/p>\n

Notice from Egypt\u2019s water authority regarding the pollution translated to English\n<\/p>\n

Kuplik also described the exclusion of Israeli researchers not necessarily by parties from Arab countries, but by Europeans \u2014 an academic boycott connected to Europe. He said there had been cases at conferences in which Arab participants vetoed Israeli participation and refused to take part in the event if the Israelis remained. The Israeli participants were then removed \u201cso the activity could continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prof. Noa Shenkar of Tel Aviv University\u2019s School of Zoology and Steinhardt Museum of Natural History said of the issue: \u201cI personally have good relations with women scientists from Turkey and Cyprus, and I wish I had them with more countries. At the most recent conference on invasive species, a student from Tunisia, whom I wanted to approach with a suggestion after her presentation, told me she couldn\u2019t speak with me. That made me very sad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eng. Sergio Dov Rosen, a coastal engineer and former senior scientist and head of the Marine Geology and Coastal Processes Department at the National Institute of Oceanography at Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, described past marine cooperation with Egypt.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past, I participated in the first trilateral research project following the peace agreement with Egypt, on \u2018Sediment Transport in the Nile Littoral Cell.\u2019 It was funded by the United States. At the time, we cooperated with the Egyptians,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said this was in the early 1990s. \u201cI know there was later contact with researchers from Egypt on other issues,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Rosen said he met Egyptian researchers at conferences over the years without any problems. He also participated in international projects that included Syria and Lebanon, though he said he had no direct contact with researchers from those countries.<\/p>\n

He recalled, however, that Lebanese representatives did not vote against his appointment to a committee dealing with sea-level and tsunami monitoring in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey abstained. They didn\u2019t vote against me. If someone had objected, they wouldn\u2019t have been able to elect me. I think now that could land someone in prison,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Another question is whether Israel\u2019s official bodies maintain ties with neighboring Arab countries on environmental and marine issues \u2014 specifically, whether the relevant Israeli ministries are in contact with their counterparts in neighboring countries.<\/p>\n

The Environmental Protection Ministry was asked, \u201cDoes the ministry maintain contact with its counterparts in neighboring Arab countries with which Israel has relations?\u201d and \u201cWas there any communication regarding the recent algae incident?\u201d<\/p>\n

The ministry responded: \u201cThe incident is being managed at the national level by the Water Authority and the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Energy Ministry said: \u201cAs part of long-term preparations, professional officials are conducting a peer-learning and international review process with professional bodies around the world that are dealing with similar challenges, with the aim of examining advanced solutions and successful methods of response.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ministry did not specify which bodies were involved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The need for coordination is not limited to the sea. Almost any significant environmental crisis in the region…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":["post-613035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}