“Israeli academia cannot serve as a sanctuary for individuals spreading blood libels against their own country,” Professors for a Strong Israel said, strongly condemning Hairston’s post.
Tel Hai College condemned the now-edited social media post made by senior lecturer Dr. Ilana Hairston on the second anniversary of the October 7 massacre, claiming that Israel, like the Third Reich, has lost its right to exist.
Hairston’s words do not represent Tel Hai College as a whole, the college said in a statement published, noting that it proudly stands with its reservist students and Israel security forces.
“Just as the Third Reich lost its right to exist, so too did Israel,” the now-edited post read. “In the same way murderers and rapists have the right to exist in prison, Israeli leaders have the right to a life-long stint behind bars.”
“The genocidal state in all its glory,” Hairston wrote in the post, condemning Israel for its “horrific” treatment of the detained flotilla activists and detailing the alleged beatings and threats the activists were put through.
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and Brazilian activist Thiago Avila sit in a vessel making their way to Israel, after Israel intercepted some of the vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla, in this handout image released on October 2, 2025. (credit: ISRAEL FOREIGN MINSTRY/ Handout via REUTERS)
Further condemnation of Hairston’s post
Professors for a Strong Israel, a non-profit organization dedicated to “promoting the security and Jewish character of the State of Israel,” according to their website, has strongly condemned Hairston’s post.
“Israeli academia cannot serve as a sanctuary for individuals spreading blood libels against their own country. Academic freedom is not a license for slander, incitement, or denigrating the state and the Jewish people,” said the organization.
“The phenomenon of lecturers who speak out against Israel and continue to teach undisturbed, as if it is a legitimate position, must come to an end. Anyone who compares Israel to the Third Reich or questions its right to exist has forfeited their right to teach in a public institution.”
The organization continued, calling on Education Minister Yoav Kisch and the Council for Higher Education to establish guidelines distinguishing between “freedom of thought and freedom of slander,” and to grant institutions the ability to take necessary disciplinary actions, including suspension, against lecturers who use their platforms to “act against the state.”