Questions over the future of UK-Israeli research ties have been raised amid the ongoing blockade of Gaza, which has already led to the European Union beginning a review into Israel¡¯s participation in Horizon Europe.

The UK has enjoyed close research links to Israel for many years, with a ?20 million framework for developing academic and research and development ties?.

Since then, several UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) programmes have encouraged researchers from the two countries to work together, while UK-Israel research projects have received funding from the UK¡¯s International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF), which also supports exchange placements for Israeli and UK academics.

However, Israel¡¯s blockade of Gaza, denying food supplies to civilians, has led to??from Europe, with a recent joint statement from the UK and France threatening ¡°targeted sanctions¡± unless humanitarian aid restrictions are lifted.

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In Brussels, the EU is reviewing whether Israel should remain part of its flagship research scheme, Horizon Europe ¨C??backed by MEPs who see this threat as a powerful diplomatic lever to restore aid to Gaza.

Similar research-focused sanctions should be considered by the UK, said Alison Phipps, Unesco chair in refugee integration through languages and the arts at the University of Glasgow, who highlighted Israel¡¯s receipt of funding from the ISPF, a scheme supported, in part, by??from 2023 to 2025.

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Asked if the UK should suspend new jointly funded research, Phipps said: ¡°If a ban of this type helps to stop the suffering in Gaza, we should do it.¡±

¡°If this small action helps to lift the blockade, I would support it, even if some important jointly funded projects on reconciliation are lost,¡± she added.

More transparency about what UK-Israel projects have been funded was also vital, continued Phipps, highlighting a ¡°lack of clarity¡± over whether any of the research money is spent in universities within illegally occupied territories, which would be a breach of international law and potentially expose UK researchers to prosecution.

Asked by?51³Ô¹Ï?about which Israeli-UK projects were funded by ISPF, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said it would be ¡°unlawful and unfair¡±, under data protection laws, to release information?that ¡°could enable the identification of individuals¡±.

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In a statement, the department said the ¡°UK-Israel research collaboration being funded through the ISPF is supporting researchers working on breakthroughs we all stand to benefit from, like using AI to discover new drugs.¡±

¡°None of this is aid funding¡±, it added, noting UK-Israel research was supported by the non-ODA section of the ISPF.

Concerns over jointly funded research projects involving Israel come after it emerged that??from some of the 130 Horizon Europe projects involving Israeli researchers approved since the October 2023 attacks.

However, Rosa Freedman, professor of law, conflict and global development at the University of Reading, said a boycott of Israeli science would be misguided given some of Benjamin Netanyahu¡¯s??are Israeli academics

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¡°There are times when it is legitimate to cut off links to an institution, such as if those institutions are just a shill for the state. That¡¯s not what is happening in Israel,¡± said Freedman, who co-edited a collection of essays last year??from within UK higher education.

¡°If you shut down research ties through boycotts then you also close down conversations with places that are a democratic space [for dissent],¡± continued Freedman. ¡°Then after you have isolated and ostracised Israeli academics, people ask ¡®why aren¡¯t they engaging¡¯?¡±

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Given academics in other countries where democratic norms are subverted are seldom held responsible for the actions of their president, treating Israeli scholars differently ¡°risked being seen as antisemitic¡±, continued Freedman.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com