Post by Daniel Chamovitz

In times when academic walls are going up instead of bridges, it is worth reminding ourselves why universities exist in the first place. Not to retreat inward. Not to mirror political fractures. But to insist that knowledge, science, and human progress are built through dialogue, partnership, and trust. That conviction is what brought me to a meaningful meeting with my counterpart in Germany, the President of Freie Universität Berlin, Günter M. Ziegler. At a moment when Jewish and Israeli scholars face growing exclusion in parts of the global academic sphere, choosing collaboration is not an act of denial. It is an act of responsibility. Scientific cooperation is not a favor we extend to one another. It is a shared commitment to advancing medicine, technology, climate research, and society itself. When universities continue to work together across borders, they reaffirm a simple truth: progress does not thrive in isolation. This is how academia should respond to uncertainty not by narrowing its horizons, but by widening them. By investing in partnerships that are rooted in mutual respect, academic freedom, and a belief that science serves humanity as a whole. Hope, in academia, is not a slogan. It is something we actively build together. Chaim (Harvey) Hames Photo credit: Dani Machlis