Education minister strips Israel Prize from professor over ICC war crimes petition
Education Minister Yoav Kisch said he will not allow the Israel Prize to be awarded to sociologist Eva Illouz because of a petition she filed with others in 2021 urging the International Criminal Court not to trust Israel to investigate war crimes allegations itself.
Kisch on Monday sent a letter to the prize committee members instructing them to reconsider their selection.
In 2021, the ICC said it would open a probe of actions by Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. In May of that year, over 180 Israeli scientists, intellectuals and public figures asked the ICC’s chief prosecutor at the time, Fatou Bensouda, not to rely on Israel to investigate the accusations against it. According to Haaretz, 10 previous Israel Prize winners also put their names to the appeal.
There have been past clashes between an education minister and Israel Prize winners.
In 2021, then-education minister Gallant refused to award the prize to Mathematician Prof. Oded Goldreich, accusing him of supporting boycotts against Israel. The prize committee went to the High Court, which ruled it should be awarded to him as initially decided.
The prize waseventually given to Goldreichthe following year — months after the official Israel Prize ceremony when others were honored — in a private event at the Education Ministry, though the minister at the time, Yifat Shasha-Biton, who had also opposed Goldreich’s nomination, did not attend.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/education-minister-strips-israel-prize-from-professor-over-icc-war-crimes-petition/?utm_campaign=most_popular&utm_source=website&utm_medium=article_end&utm_content=3 