As Jewish scientists within the global science community, we have all felt great satisfaction and taken pride in Israel’s many remarkable accomplishments.  We support and value the State of Israel, its pluralistic society, and its vibrant culture.  Many of us have friends, family, and scientific collaborators in Israel, and have visited often.  The strong connections we feel are based both on our collective Jewish identity as well as on our shared values of democracy, pluralism, and human rights. We support Israel’s right to live in peace among its neighbors. Many of us have stood firmly against calls for boycotts of Israeli academic institutions.

Our support of Israel now compels us to speak up vigorously against incipient changes to Israel's core governmental structure, as put forward by Justice Minister Levin, that will eviscerate Israel's judiciary and impede its critical oversight function.  Such imbalance and unchecked authority invite corruption and abuse, and stifle the healthy interplay of core state institutions.  History has shown that this leads to oppression of the defenseless and the abrogation of human rights.  Along with hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens who have taken to the streets in protest, we call upon the Israeli government to step back from this precipice and retract the proposed legislation.

Science today is driven by collaborations which bring together scholars of diverse backgrounds from across the globe. Funding, communication and cooperation on an international scale are essential aspects of the modern scientific enterprise, hence our extended community regards pluralism, secular and broad education, protection of rights for women and minorities, and societal stability guaranteed by the rule of law as non-negotiable virtues.  The consequences of Israel abandoning any of these essential principles would surely be grave, and would provoke a rift with the international scientific community.  In addition to significantly increasing the threat of academic, trade, and diplomatic boycotts, Israel risks a “brain drain” of its best scientists and engineers. It takes decades to establish scientific and academic excellence, but only a moment to destroy them. We fear that the unprecedented erosion of judiciary independence in Israel will set back the Israeli scientific enterprise for generations to come.

Our Jewish heritage forcefully emphasizes both justice and jurisprudence. Israel must endeavor to serve as a “light unto the nations,” by steadfastly holding to core democratic values – so clearly expressed in its own Declaration of Independence – which protect and nurture all of Israel’s inhabitants and which justify its membership in the community of democratic nations. 

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