And therein, no doubt, lies the problem with BGU’s Politics and Government Department: the only Israeli department singled out by the international committee for the unprecedented recommendation of closure. For if its founder and long-time member, who continues to wield decisive influence over its direction, views Israel as a present-day reincarnation of Nazi Germany in several key respects, how conceivably can the department ensure the “sustained commitment to providing balance and an essential range of viewpoints and perspectives on the great issues of politics” required for its continued existence?
Efraim Karsh is research professor of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies at King’s College London; director of the Middle East Forum (Philadelphia); and author, most recently, of “Palestine Betrayed.” This originally appeared at Hudson New York (www.hudson-ny.org), which as of January 1 will be known as Stonegate Institute.