The president of Tel Aviv University, Prof. Ariel Porat, referred to the public statements in recent days that call for the repeal of criminal prohibitions on racist statements or the idea of allowing discrimination in the provision of services (including medical services), and announced that the university will not cooperate with entities that adopt a policy of improper discrimination.
In his letter to the students, Prof. Porat stated:
In the past few days, extremists have been voicing dangerous ideas that threaten to harm the delicate social fabric of our democracy even by their mere utterance. The absurdity is that the originators of these ideas seem to believe that they are entirely legitimate so long as they are supported by a majority in the Knesset. There is no greater distortion of the concept of democracy!
A few days ago, before we were informed of the idea to repeal the criminal prohibition of racist rhetoric, or to permit discrimination in providing services (including medical services), I spoke briefly at an event about the meaning of democracy and the most basic duty of a democratic regime – to protect the rights of its minority groups.
Similar to other institutions that have made such a declaration, Tel Aviv University will not cooperate with any bodies that adopt a policy of wrongful discrimination.