About 1,600 researchers, scientists and academics sent a protest petition to the Minister of Education and the Prime Minister to cancel the damage to the National Library

Among the signatories: Israel Prize laureates, scientists from the fields of exact sciences, medicine, humanities and social sciences and doctoral students * Earlier, members of the management of the National Academy of Sciences published a petition on the subject

Following Education Minister Yoav Kish's bill to change the National Library Law, so that he appoints the members of the board and management, a protest petition signed by 1568 researchers, scientists and academics was sent to him today. A copy of the petition was also sent to Prime Minister Netanyahu. (Until now, the members of the library's board of directors were appointed by a public council).

The petition states that the proposed change threatens the functioning, status and future of the National Library as the national institution that treasures the memory, culture and opinion of the Jewish people. "The National Library was founded as a jubilee years before the establishment of the State of Israel and it stands above this or that government, above political debates, and above attempts at control and direction from above. Its whole purpose is to preserve in the best possible way the treasures of the Jewish people and the State of Israel for generations, for the sake of society in Israel, the Jewish people and future generations."

The petition was signed by nearly 1600 researchers, postgraduate students, librarians and writers within just one day.

Among the signatories of the petition: Israel Prize winners Professors Sami Samuha, Alex Lubotsky, Olga Kapliuk and Nitsa Ben Dov; Prof. Gili Regev Yohai from Sheba Hospital and Dr. Hali Dankner from the Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University; Prof. David Levy Paor, founder of the Israeli Academy network, the writers Agi Meshaul and Chaim Beer and many more.

The protest petition was sent to the Minister of Education by Prof. Menachem Ben Sasson, who previously served as president and rector of the Hebrew University and was also chairman of the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee between 2006-2009.

"It is clear to us that we would have won many more signatures if we had more time at our disposal. But time is pressing. Before the law in its new form enters the Israeli law book, we implore you: listen to these voices of people and women who hold Jewish culture and that which was created in the Land of Israel and its surroundings so dear to their hearts," Prof. Ben Sasson wrote to the Minister of Education.

The petition was also sent to Prime Minister Netanyahu, to which Prof. Ben Sasson added a personal message: "Prime Minister, who like you remembers the complex moves you were involved in for the enactment of the very balanced law of the National Library and its implementation. We did everything at the time with your good advice. Please stop the move that will destroy the library and leave it out of political interests and considerations."

The petition also states that according to the existing law, the main objectives of the National Library are to collect, cultivate, preserve and instill the national treasures of knowledge, heritage and culture and to serve as a central research library in Israel in the fields of the humanities, and especially the sciences of Judaism, the cultures of the Middle East and Islam. The library, the petition states, serves the research community in all higher education institutions, as well as communities of yeshiva students, artists and writers, advanced students and all Israeli citizens.

"The drafters of the 2007 Library Law, which was drawn up following the recommendation of a public committee headed by retired Chief Justice Yitzhak Zamir, made sure to place the library and its institutions far from any political consideration and the mechanisms of power that could sabotage the professional considerations that determine the processes of collection, preservation and access.

"Among the national spiritual and cultural assets that the library curates: the manuscripts of Maimonides, Franz Kafka, SH Agnon, and Atzg. The collections were built with diligence and dedication over decades, by generations of researchers and librarians who saw the values ​​of research and culture, and them alone, as the criteria for collection and preservation. In addition, the library is expected to move in the coming months to a new and very beautiful abode, which was built with great effort with the help of donations from benefactors and donors.

"Minister Kish's bill kicks this noble legacy. The subjugation of the library council and the board of directors, which is obligated to guard the library's activities in spite of a minister, will fatally damage the independence of the library and damage its collections irreparably, since writers and composers will prefer to deposit their archives with independent bodies in Israel or abroad and they will control stable and unbiased institutions. There is a serious fear that even donors will refrain from contributing to the foundation of the library," the researchers' petition reads.

At the end of the protest petition, the researchers write "Therefore we call and call on the government: leave the national library in the loyal hands of the researchers and librarians! Make it possible for the library council, the board members and the library staff to act professionally and independently, to establish our hall of knowledge and joint research, independent of external political factors! Make it possible for all the residents of Israel, of all denominations, sects and religions, to see the library as their spiritual and cultural home. Leave the national library outside the political field and outside the limits of power and domination - as a temple of knowledge and culture!"

The Council of the National Academy of Sciences calls on the government to maintain the independence of the National Library

The Council of the Israel National Academy of Sciences expresses its serious concern and strong reservations about the government's intention to change the National Library Law at the initiative of the Minister of Education, and about harming the independent status of the library.

This appeal by the council is made by virtue of the academy's role according to law to advise the government on matters relating to science and research in the State of Israel, as well as by virtue of the National Library Law of 2007 which states that the president of the Israel National Academy of Sciences serves as the chairman of the library council, whose duties include appointing members and members of the board of directors.

The National Library has a central place in Israeli culture, as well as in the position of the State of Israel as a world cultural center in the fields of Judaism and humanities. The National Library has been, since the beginning of the twentieth century, a center for treasures of Jewish, Muslim and world culture. It serves as a unique research infrastructure and a focal point for researchers in the various fields of knowledge of the humanities and social sciences.

The transfer of the appointment of the board of directors from an independent public council to the hands of a minister in the government constitutes a blatant interference in the library's independence, in that it clearly subordinates it to the political echelon. Such a change will irreversibly harm the treasure of Jewish and Israeli national knowledge. It will also harm the trust of the donors and partners of the library's activities in Israel and abroad, who based their contributions on the library's position as a research infrastructure managed in the light of scientific excellence only and free from political considerations.

The National Library currently has over five million books and periodicals, as well as thousands of other items in special collections, including manuscripts, archives, maps, music recordings and digital collections. The continued promotion of the change to the library law may lead to the withdrawal of existing collections from it and of donations promised to it for the purpose of its activities, and in the end perhaps even to the actual dissolution of the library.

The council calls on the government to immediately stop the moves to change the law. A political takeover of the library will severely damage Israel's cultural and scientific strength.

• Prof. David Harel, President of the Academy
• Prof. Margalit Finkelberg, Vice President of the Academy
• Prof. Sergio Hart, Chairman of the Humanities Division at the Academy
• Prof. Yadin Dodai, Chairman of the Natural Sciences Division at the Academy
• Prof. Neely Cohen, former president of the academy
• Galia Finzi, director of the academy

More of the topic in Hayadan:

• The National Library reveals Newton's secrets
• The National Library participates in an interactive Google project that tracks the greatest inventions and discoveries in human history
• "Franz Kafka was a Jewish writer. He even thought of immigrating to Israel and becoming a farmer"
• Save Einstein