Israel's universities call out against new gov't's discriminatory legislative initiatives

More Israeli universities on Thursday voiced opposition against the discriminatory legislative initiatives against women, LGBT and Arabs by the newly formed rightist coalition government.

The Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) on Thursday issued a statement warning against the threat to Israel's image by such initiatives, adding that it would work for its goals without discriminating against anyone based on race, religion, nationality, gender and sexual orientation.

The University of Haifa also issued a statement on Thursday, warning that the legislative initiatives by the new far-right and religious government could discriminate against and exclude populations in Israeli society, foster hatred toward the LGBT community, and sow fear in the country.

The Weizmann Institute of Science also vowed in a statement on Thursday that it would "continue to stand firm amid right violations of the LGBT community and other groups in the face of acts of incitement and violence."

On Tuesday, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem said in a statement that it would continue to promote values of full equality, liberty, freedom, and human dignity in any form.

"As a civilized society we must denounce sectional discourse that seeks to achieve supremacy and exclude entire populations from Israel's delicate social order," it said.

In an open letter issued on Wednesday to its students, Tel Aviv University said that "these days, extreme voices are heard, raising shocking ideas aiming to harm the delicate fabric of our lives."

It vowed not to cooperate with entities that will pursue a policy of improper discrimination.

Earlier, Bar Ilan University, Ben Gurion University, and Reichman University in Israel also stated that they oppose discrimination and exclusion of certain populations.

Recently, leading hospitals in Israel already came out against a legislative initiative taken by the new government to allow doctors to refuse treatment to certain populations, such as LGBT people if this goes against the doctor's religious beliefs.

On Thursday, the new Israeli coalition government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the longest-serving leader in the country, was sworn in at an inauguration ceremony in the Israeli parliament, or Knesset.

The new coalition, the most far-right government in Israel's history, is made up of Netanyahu's Likud party, the pro-settler Religious Zionism which calls for annexation of the occupied West Bank, the Jewish Power party whose leader was convicted of supporting Jewish terrorism and inciting racism, and the Noam party, an extreme-right party that opposes the LGBTQ rights, as well as Shas and United Torah Judaism, two ultra-Orthodox parties.