Israeli scientific research isn't dependent on Europe

Professor Yisrael Aumann, Nobel laureate in economics, sits down with Israel Hayom to discuss peace talks, European boycotts and the Arab Spring: "Israel should say that it needs no favors, and make up the science budget in place of the Europeans."

Dror Eydar..
Israel Hayom..
16 August '13..

It's late in the evening, and the lights are on in the Aumann household. Professor Yisrael (Robert) Aumann, Nobel laureate in economics, sits at the table with a student, a young doctor from Haifa's Technion. They are studying a mathematical problem, and the paper in front of them has equations scribbled all over it. Such is life for a rabbi ("I'm a young man of 83," he tells me) and his student on a cool, clear Jerusalem night.

But around them, the storm rages. Europe issued guidelines that seek to cut the Israeli academic world off from any relationship with Israel's heartland: Samaria, Judea and east Jerusalem. Even the Golan Heights. No financial grants will be given to Israeli scientists who have any connection with Israel over the Green Line. While the guidelines are still preliminary and the agreement has not yet been signed, the outcry of Israeli academia is being heard in the corridors of government.

The academics fear the loss of budgets for research and the cancellation of scientific cooperation between Israel and the Europeans. Foreign Ministry officials have told university heads that instead of putting pressure on the Israeli government to accede to the European dictates, they should put pressure on Europe, which will perhaps get them a softened version of the agreement.

Some well-known parts of the Israeli media have used the story to threaten the public with another tsunami, one of a series that has hit us over the past few years. This time, the tsunami is in the field of science.

The conflict between Israel and Europe has new manifestations and episodes. Quite a few powers are stirring the political pot; some of them hope for a buildup of European pressure to the point of a general boycott that will force Israel to give up the country's heartland. As one of the world's foremost experts on game theory, Aumann has a position on the issue both in terms of his behavior during these conflicts and as a high-ranking member of the scientific community in Israel and worldwide. Not surprisingly, his stance is different from the voices we've been hearing this week.