Shabbat Shalom broom Brussels

Dear Friends,

I'm writing to you from Brussels Airport, waiting for my flight home after a whirlwind visit to Belgium. I arrived late last night, and in the few hours between landing and departing, had the privilege of meeting with two of Ben-Gurion University's honorary doctors: Her Excellency Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and Katharina von Schnurbein, the European Commission's Coordinator on Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life.

President von der Leyen invited me in my capacity as Chair of VERA, the Council of Heads of Israeli Research Universities, to hear firsthand about the state of Israeli academia three years after October 7, how BGU is doing today, and the challenges and opportunities facing academic collaboration between Israel and Europe.

While I cannot share the details of our conversations, I do want to share why this meeting was so meaningful to me. At a time when relations between Israel and Europe are strained, when Israeli academics face boycotts and calls for exclusion, the President of the European Commission made time in her schedule to sit down with the president of Ben-Gurion University and listen.

I have written to you before about the importance of science diplomacy. Universities have a unique ability to maintain relationships even when conventional diplomatic channels are strained. Our collaborations are built on years of shared research, mutual trust, and the understanding that knowledge transcends political boundaries. These relationships are not immune to political pressures, as we have learned painfully over the past three years, but that makes protecting them all the more important.

I left the meeting encouraged. Not because the challenges facing Israeli academia have disappeared, but because there are leaders in Europe who understand that maintaining academic ties is part of the solution, not part of the problem.

And I was reminded of something else: when we award honorary doctorates at BGU, we are not simply recognizing past achievements. We are building relationships with people who share our values and who can help us shape the future. Yesterday was a wonderful reminder of just how meaningful those relationships can be.

Shabbat Shalom,

Danny