TU Delft: no new collaborations with Israeli universities

10-06-25, 16:57

The Delft University of Technology will not enter into new partnerships with Israeli universities and organizations "unless very strict criteria are met." The current projects will continue "for the time being," but the board will critically assess them, the Delft University announced on Tuesday.
The decision was taken due to “serious concerns about possible involvement in genocidal violence and human rights violations in the context of the conflict between Israel and Gaza.” The TU does not rule out that a “very limited” exception can be made, in which cooperation with Israel is still possible, but “the standard remains a clear ‘no, unless’.”

The decision only concerns TU collaboration with Israeli institutions. Delft researchers are allowed to have contact with individual colleagues from Israel. This is not covered by the decision.

Commission
The TU board has had a special committee, a Moral Consultation Chamber, look into the ties with Israel. The university does not want to say who was on that committee "to protect independence and objectivity and to protect the members from unfair treatment based on their work for the consultation".

Many Dutch universities are considering their ties with institutions in Israel. For example, the University of Amsterdam, Radboud University in Nijmegen, Tilburg University and Erasmus University Rotterdam have scaled back their collaborations, and Utrecht University also wants to do so.

There have been many anti-Israel demonstrations at universities in recent years. The demonstrators want all Dutch educational institutions to completely break off all contact with all institutions in Israel. The steps that the universities have taken so far do not go far enough for them.