Israel said on Tuesday the United States is effectively lifting a ban on US funding of Israeli scientific research projects conducted in Judea and Samaria and the Golan Heights.

There was no immediate Palestinian comment on the move, announced a week before the fast-approaching US presidential election Nov. 3, in which opinion polls show incumbent President Donald Trump trailing Democrat Joe Biden.

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Past scientific accords with the US government stipulated that Israeli research projects receiving US grants could not be carried out in areas that came under Israeli administration in the 1967 Six-Day War.

The Trump administration last year effectively backed Israel's right to build Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria by abandoning a long-held US position that they were "inconsistent with international law."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman will sign amended scientific cooperation agreements at a "special ceremony" in Judea and Samaria on Wednesday, Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

The revised agreements "will expand scientific cooperation between Israel and the United States to Judea and Samaria and the Golan Heights," the Israeli statement said.

Under the Trump administration peace plan announced in January, Israel would retain control of most of its communities in Judea and Samaria.

In May, Trump recognized the Golan Heights as Israeli territory. He has also challenged recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moved the US Embassy to the holy city.

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The move is a significant one because the Committee of University Heads has refused to accept the university status of Ariel (formerly Ariel University Center of Samaria).

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The Planning and Budgeting Committee handles the budget for Israel's entire system of higher education and decides on both regular budgets and development budget for the country's institutions of higher education.

On Tuesday, Higher Education Minister Zeev Elkin expressed his satisfaction at Navon-Venezia being elected to the committee, saying, "I thank the members of the Council for Higher Education for the support of Professor Navon-Venezia, despite the heavy pressure from the Committee of University Heads."

"I call on those heads to put disagreements aside and work together ahead of the start of the next academic year, in the shadow of coronavirus," Elkin said.

The Committee of University Heads issued a statement wishing Navon-Venezia success, but noted that "the election process Minister Zeev Elkin led was flawed, and could hurt academic independence in Israel."

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Students will study at the University of Haifa's Marine Sciences school and the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat.

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The graduate student program was initiated in order to forge a connection between the next generation of oceanography professionals through international collaboration. Students are collaborating with 25 labs from six host institutions in Israel, Canada, Australia, and Sweden.

Elena Forchielli, a fourth-year Ph.D. student in molecular cellular biology and biochemistry at Boston University, is one participant who will conduct research this fall at the University of Haifa's Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences. She has previously visited Haifa for collaborative research with the Charney School's Daniel Sher; they will join forces again as part of her LOREX experience from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31.

"I'm excited to perform experiments at the University of Haifa that my lab doesn't have the capacity to carry out in Boston," Forchielli said. "The Eastern Mediterranean setting enables us to collect valuable samples in the sea, and then to replicate our experiments in an environment which closely resembles the conditions of the real ocean. I'm looking forward to obtaining powerful data from this process."

Given its home along Israel's coastline, the Charney School is strategically positioned to study the Mediterranean Sea in an interdisciplinary manner. The school has four complementary divisions: Department of Maritime Civilizations; Dr. Strauss Department of Marine Geosciences; Department of Marine Biology; and Hatter Department of Marine Technologies. It also offers an MBA program in shipping and ports management.

Through this exchange, the research collaboration "promises to deliver not only significant findings for the marine biology community but also the latest fruitful partnership between American and Israeli academic institutions," said Karen L. Berman, CEO of the American Society of the University of Haifa. "Situated at the doorstep of the Mediterranean Sea, the school finds itself at a cradle of maritime civilizations throughout history. There is simply no substitute for a real-world laboratory of that magnitude."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Goldblum, an outspoken critic of Israel who serves on the public council of the left-wing New Israel Fund, made the remarks in the comments section of an article about a new website launched by right-wing Zionist group Im Tirtzu that lists Israeli professors who teach at publicly funded universities yet engage in "anti-democratic, anti-Zionist" activity.

"The Nazi dogs at Im Tirtzu can't do anything to me," wrote Goldblum. "Now I promise: I will photograph every Im Tirtzu scum on campus and publicize their names as much as I can so that teachers know who they shouldn't accept to advanced degrees."

Dozens of students at Hebrew University affiliated with Im Tirtzu were shocked to learn of Goldblum's remarks and submitted a formal complaint to the university.

The university condemned the remarks but stated: "Hebrew University is not responsible for the remarks made by its professors and it is not its role to deal with them, so long as the academic podium is not being exploited to disseminate these ideas. In this instance, the university rector made it unequivocally clear to Prof. Goldblum that he cannot act this way towards students."

Despite the rector's warning, Goldblum said that if a student enters his class wearing an Im Tirtzu shirt, he will refuse to continue teaching and will "call security."

"Im Tirtzu's intention is to harm professors and I am unwilling to speak in the atmosphere created by Im Tirtzu activists, and that is what I told the university administration," said Goldblum.

Yuval Brami, Im Tirtzu's Hebrew University branch coordinator, called Goldblum's remarks "outrageous" and accused the university of turning a blind eye toward them.

"It is outrageous that a professor in Hebrew University would dare to prevent students from studying in his class due to their personal views and social affiliation," said Brami.  "What is even worse," continued Brami, "is that the university does not see fit to deal with this issue at all."

Likud MK Keti Shitrit called Goldblum's remarks a "red line" and asked to be informed of any further developments on the subject.

Im Tirtzu CEO Matan Peleg said that Goldblum's actions are reminiscent of a "tyrannical regime" that tries to stifle different opinions and freedom of expression.

"Every student has the right to voice his or her support for Israel and IDF soldiers. It is a disgrace for anyone to try and shut this down," said Peleg.

This article is reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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