Khaberni - Statements by an Israeli academic at Tel Hai College in northern Israel sparked a storm of controversy within educational and media circles after she likened Israel to the Third Reich (the Nazi regime in Germany).
The researcher considered that Israel "has lost its right to exist" just as the Nazi regime did after World War II.
The statements, published on the Facebook site by Dr. Ilana Herston—a lecturer in psychology and biological psychology—ignited a sharp debate about the limits of freedom of expression in Israel, especially when these views come from within a public academic institution.
According to a report published by the newspaper "Yedioth Ahronoth" today, Thursday, Dr. Herston wrote on October 7th that "Israel, like the Third Reich, has lost its right to exist".
Her argument was based on what she described as "testimonies from detainees of the Global Fortitude Fleet," saying these testimonies represented "a genocide in all its details: beating, hand-tying for hours, denial of medical treatment, insults and threats."
She accused Israel of committing serious violations of international law, noting that "kidnapping people from the fleet in international waters is a breach of international maritime law."
She followed up her post with even harsher statements, writing that "the Israeli leadership deserves to live a long life behind bars, just as murderers and rapists deserve to stay in prison," considering this as "the natural price for what they have committed against the Palestinians."
Statement and Denunciation
Following the spread of the post and its reach to the college student union and administration, the academic college in Tel Hai issued an official statement affirming that what the lecturer wrote "in no way represents the stance of the institution".
The statement said: "The severe and dangerous words of Dr. Herston represent only her personal opinion, and were published on her personal page. Tel Hai Academic College utterly rejects this discourse and proudly stands alongside the Israeli military and security forces who defend the state and its citizens."
The statement added, that many of the college students "served long periods in the reserve forces over the past two years", and that the opening of the new academic year after a long absence from the northern campus "symbolizes the resilience of the region and Tel Hai's commitment towards the community in Galilee and the Israeli society as a whole."
Her statements also raised widespread condemnation in political circles, where the head of the Upper Galilee Regional Council, David Azoulay, described her words as "a moral and legal collapse."
Azoulay told Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper: "I couldn’t believe what I saw. It is bankruptcy for society and law enforcement to allow someone in Israel to write such statements, as if we have returned to the 1930s in Germany."
He added: "These were written by a Jewish woman from our people, and this is painful and shameful. Legal action should be taken against her immediately. Freedom of speech does not mean freedom to incite against the state and its soldiers."
He concluded: "Ilana, there are plenty of countries in the world you can live in, no one is forcing you to stay here. But it's clear you've crossed all the red lines."
Angry Response
However, Dr. Herston did not back down. Instead, she replied with another post in which she described the criticisms aimed at her as a "witch hunt," accusing her colleagues and students of acting like the intelligence services in East Germany (the "Stasi").
She wrote: "The academic year has not begun yet, but already the informers are working in Full Drive mode. Yesterday, the college president sent me a screenshot of my post forwarded to him by someone, asking if I had added my institutional affiliation to it. I said no, and that was the end of the clarification."
She added: "Less than 24 hours later I received another call from the president because the student union considered that I had crossed the red line by comparing the Israeli military to the Third Reich. It seems they think I should be silenced, but I will not accept that."
She affirmed that she separates her political views from her academic career, explaining that she does not present her political positions in the classroom, and that she teaches subjects unrelated to the political reality, such as neuroscience and behavioral science.
She concluded: "Those who do not want to read what I write on Facebook are not obligated to do so. Entering my page is optional, and those who do not like my words can respond or leave. But monitoring my account and sending screenshots to the college administration is truly fascist behavior similar to what the Stasi did."
