The past and present presidents of the academy appeal to the government to stop harming science in Israel.

Recently, the National Library, the Council for Higher Education, the Israel Prizes, the Life Institute, and the Volcanic Institute, which is an institution of national importance and important for food security, suffered attempts at government intervention and damage to the budgets, in addition to all this, also contempt on the part of the Minister of Finance

The Academy of Sciences published a disclosure on the government's vulnerability to scientific research, spirit and culture in Israel

The Israeli National Academy of Sciences legally advises the government on issues related to science in the broadest sense. We, the members of the Academy Council and its previous presidents, express deep and acute concern about the actions of the current government, and warn against an unprecedented harm to scientific research, higher education and the worlds of science, spirit and culture in Israel.

Since the establishment of the current government, we have witnessed its repeated attempts to interfere in the work of research and higher education bodies and spiritual and cultural institutions, including bodies that are national symbols, in a way that harms their independence. The intervention is forceful and is done for extraneous and unprofessional considerations, with a distinct political flavor, for the purpose of taking over institutions and bodies that must be run independently and in a state manner only according to professional criteria.

There are many examples of this, including the efforts of the Minister of Education and others to damage the independence of the National Library, to intervene predatorily in the appointment procedures in the Council for Higher Education, to cancel the Israel Awards this year in all traditional categories, including the fields of scientific research, the fields of creativity and the arts, and the field of life's work, and to cut the budgets of Research institutions of first-rate national importance such as the Volcanic Institute. And in the background of these actions - the disparaging and disastrous statements of the Minister of Finance about science and research support.

Science, research and creation are a central and vital pillar of the existence, security and strength of the State of Israel. They are the spiritual and intellectual infrastructure on which an advanced and healthy society is built and a necessary condition for its strength and its economic and security stability. The government's actions threaten Israel's ability to maintain its position as a world leader in research and development.

We call on the government and the decision makers to immediately abandon the destructive approach and recognize the essential roles of research and independent thought as engines of growth and as a source of creative solutions to the problems facing us. Especially at this difficult time, and for the sake of future generations, we must deal with the restoration and the future of the country. We demand to maintain the independence of science and higher education, to strengthen their budgets and to give full support to researchers, creators and the intellectuals and culture.

• Prof. David Harel, president
• Prof. Margalit Finkelberg, Vice President
• Prof. Sergio Hart, Chairman of the Humanities Division
• Prof. Yadin Dodai, Chairman of the Natural Sciences Division
• Prof. Neely Cohen, former president of the academy
• Prof. Ruth Arnon, former president of the academy
• Prof. Yehoshua Yurtner, former president of the academy
• Prof. Menachem Yaari, former president of the academy
• Ms. Galia Finzi, manager