This week, Israel's Council for Higher Education approved the hotly debated academic code of ethics written by the author of the IDF Code of Ethics, Professor Asa Kasher, which aims to set clear guidelines regarding the role of political activity in academia.
Among other things, the code seeks to address the widespread phenomenon wherein certain professors – under the guise of academic freedom – use their positions to subject students to politicized material that reflects only one side of an academic debate, while at the same time prohibiting other points of view, particularly from students.
Contrary to the inaccurate claims of the code's detractors, the code does not in any way stifle political debate or ban political discussion from the classroom.
The code is a breath of fresh air for Israeli academia. It aims to create an environment in which students are presented with both sides of the discussion, allowing them to think critically, engage in vibrant academic exchange, and arrive at their own conclusions.
Unfortunately, many professors believe that their academic mandate gives them the right to preach only one side of the debate, while bullying and berating students who voice opposing views.
In more extreme, but not uncommon, instances, right-wing students are afraid to voice their opinions in class or to write pro-Israel content in their papers, out of concern that their grades will be negatively affected.
This is not academic freedom. This is not pluralism. This is coercion in the service of indoctrination.
Many opponents of the code mistakenly conflate academic freedom with freedom of speech. But what is lawfully guaranteed to an individual outside of the classroom does not translate to what should be permitted inside of the classroom.
All should agree that while blatantly racist speech is protected by law, engaging in it is unacceptable in the classroom – and rightfully so.
Similarly, while it might be protected free speech for professors to curse at right-wing students in the hallways, call politicians neo-Nazis in class and scold students who show up to class in IDF uniform (all of which have occurred in Israeli academia), is that what we want to see in our universities?
It is precisely for these reasons that academic codes of ethics are needed, just as codes of ethics are needed for doctors, lawyers and nearly every other profession.
Incidentally, this is not a new or unprecedented initiative: As explained by Kasher, the proposed code was modeled after the code of ethics of the American Association of University Professors, which has been in existence for over a century.
Unfortunately, the original code included several clauses that were not incorporated into the final draft of the code, including one regarding the unhealthy role that radical political organizations play in academia.
Today in several leading Israeli universities, students can receive scholarships and academic credits in exchange for interning in radical NGOs, including B'Tselem, which promotes international pressure on Israel and accuses Israel of war crimes, and Hamoked, which petitions the Supreme Court on behalf of terrorists and their families.
University legal clinics are also being used to promote radical politicized agendas, resulting in instances in which legal clinics are used to defend convicted terrorists in court and to file judicial appeals against state policy, often to the virtual exclusion of representing other potential claimants.
Much of this political activity stems from another issue that was excluded from the final version of the code: academic appointments based on ideological preference rather than academic merit.
Entire departments have become hotbeds of academic groupthink that reject professors who don't conform to their worldviews. This not only suppresses pluralism and diversity but leads to absurdities such as the decision by Ben-Gurion University's Middle East Studies Department to unanimously award Breaking the Silence with a 20,000-shekel ($5,700) human rights prize in 2016.
The fact that over 20 professors would all vote to award a prize to one of the most controversial organizations in Israel highlights the severity of the situation.
The implementation of the code in its current form still represents a significant achievement for Israeli academia. But this is only the beginning; much work remains to be done.
The time has come to return pluralism, diversity and basic sanity to Israeli academia.
