Framed as a defense against “political” academic strikes, Likud MK Avihai Boaron’s proposed law would grant the Minister of Education full discretion to lower or cancel university budgets in order to prevent such strikes. Historically, I am told by my lawyer friends, university strikes that are not directly related to work conditions have always been stopped within a few hours by the Israeli courts. In any case, the framing of the law lumps in threats to strike along with actual strikes and makes special mention of cases where university presidents disagree with the Minister of Education. Boaron’s proposed law makes some concession to the importance of academic freedom with a quote from R. Judah Loew, known as the Maharal of Prague:

It is not fitting to remove any word of an opposer to one’s opinion on account of love of inquiry and knowledge … For it is through this that a man comes to the content of the truth of the words and attains a hold on the complete truth (Be’er Ha-Goleh 7,........

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