Israel Matzav: Haifa U decides against doctorate for Nobel Prize winner whose politics they don't like

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Haifa U decides against doctorate for Nobel Prize winner whose politics they don't like

Haifa University considered and decided against granting an honorary doctorate to game theoretician and Nobel Prize winner Professor Yisrael Aumann according to a report in the Hebrew Haaretz on Friday. The reason: They don't like his Right-wing politics.

At a hearing to discuss the candidacy last week, the director, Ami Ayalon, agreed with other board members not to award the title, citing concerns that "the Professor's politics are not in line with the University's values."

Among the board's concerns were remarks by Aumann in 2010 stating that "the most sensible solution" to the Israeli-Arab conflict is "a Jewish state and an Arab state, where the Jewish state is settled by Jews and the Arab state is settled by Arabs."

Aumann also insisted on other religious-Zionist principles, including that "Jerusalem needs to remain Jewish" and citing the importance of religiosity in maintaining a Jewish state. Aumann has reiterated these principles several times before, stressing the importance of maintaining Israel's Jewish heritage.

Adi Arbel, a colleague of the Professor and Projects Manager of the Institute for Zionist Strategies, responded to the move with force. "There is no doubt that for the Nobel Laureate, Professor Israel Aumann, this does not make any difference," he noted.

However, he emphasized that "the illegitimate phenomenon raises questions about how decisions in the past, present and future will be made" and notes that the current board "will be subject to less respect" as a result.

The University of Haifa, for its part, claims that the decision is not yet final.

Note that Haifa's board is chaired by that great example of character Ami Ayalon, whose lies caused a 19-year old girl to sit in jail for six months for a non-existent crime that she didn't commit.

Last night, at a campaign rally for his candidacy for the Labor party leadership, Ami Ayalon, who was appointed chief of the General Security Service after Rabin was assassinated, made what would be a shocking admission in any other Western country: He admitted that Margalit Har Shefi was falsely charged and falsely convicted. And that the GSS knew it all along:

Former chief of intelligence (Shabak) Ami Ayalon, now a Knesset Member, revealed Thursday night that Margalit Har-Shefi did not realize that Yigal Amir intended to assassinate Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin. She was convicted in 1998 of failing to prevent the murder. In 2001, she began a serving a nine-month prison term, which was terminated by President Moshe Katzav after six months.

Ayalon made the disclosure at a meeting with Labor party supporters in Ashkelon, but he did not explain why he kept silent until now. "Har-Shefi did not know that Yigal Amir wanted to murder the Prime Minister," MK Ayalon said. "I know this from intelligence and was head of the intelligence agency.

"She was part of the crazy reality [at that time]."
How's that for an excuse? 'Part of the crazy reality.'

I don't know which is (ought to be) a greater embarrassment to Haifa: The academic dishonesty of denying a degree to Professor Aumann (who obviously doesn't care about it) or the dishonesty of having its Board of Trustees headed by a perjurer. In any event, the University of Haifa ought to be ashamed, and you should not donate a red (the only type they will accept) cent to them.

Labels: Ami Ayalon, liberal academia, University of Haifa, Yisrael Aumann