EU ambassador rules out academic boycott of Israel

The EU ambassador in Tel Aviv, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, has said that he rules out the imposition of any European academic boycott of Israel.

He made his comments during an international conference hosted by the Gordon College Academy of Teacher Training in Haifa. Faaborg-Andersen vowed to strengthen EU-Israel ties in various fields, especially education.

Meanwhile, Israeli Minister of Culture and Sport Miri Regev accused the Palestinian Authority’s leadership of igniting tensions and inciting terrorism, in parallel with contacting international bodies and urging them to take action against Israel. This is seen as a veiled reference to the International Criminal Court and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Regev used her Facebook page to air her views. She wrote in the context of a shooting incident in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Monday, which resulted in four Israeli soldiers being seriously injured.