Europe and Israel: Why Academic Cooperation Must Be a Strategic Priority Now

The European Union’s flagship research and education programmes, Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ Capacity Building, have enabled Israeli universities to secure billions in funding and gain international recognition. The rules for the next seven years are now being shaped.

For nearly thirty years, Israel has been a full associated partner in the European Union’s research programmes, a privilege enjoyed by very few countries outside Europe.

Horizon Europe, the EU’s flagship programme for funding scientific research and innovation, and Erasmus+ are among the most valuable assets in Israel’s relationship with Europe.

Since 1996, €2.83 billion in European research funding has been allocated to projects involving Israeli participants. More than 22,700 Israeli researchers have taken part in approximately 4,460 European projects.

But this partnership is now eroding.

According to the Israeli Association of University Heads (VERA), European research funding awarded to Israeli participants has fallen by approximately 61% since October 7, dropping from €303 million in 2022 to €119 million in 2025. European Research Council grants, which fund some of Europe’s most ambitious scientific research projects, fell from 118 to 42. The number of Horizon Europe projects conducted in partnership with Israeli institutions has been cut in half.

The same VERA report also recorded a 150% increase in attempts to exclude Israel from Horizon Europe.

Behind these figures lie invitations that never arrive, partnerships that are not renewed, and Israeli teams quietly dropped from joint research applications.

What changed after October 7?

This decline is not coincidental. Since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack and the ensuing war in Gaza, calls for an academic boycott of Israel have multiplied across European campuses. Some universities have suspended their agreements with Israeli institutions, and in 2025 the European Commission proposed a partial suspension of Israel’s access to Horizon Europe. Much of the damage, however, has occurred quietly, through partnerships that have gradually faded away.

Yet Israel still has many allies in European universities: researchers, university presidents and institutions that welcome their Israeli partners and want academic cooperation to continue.

Israel has a strong case to make. What it needs now is to act quickly and turn this support into coalitions.

More than funding: visibility and rankings

The financial loss is significant, but it is only part of the problem. These programmes enable Israeli researchers to collaborate with leading European laboratories, publish alongside renowned institutions and lead major international projects. Such cooperation generates highly cited research that contributes to global university rankings and attracts outstanding students and faculty to Israeli campuses.

Marginalisation would deprive Israeli universities of visibility, networks and, ultimately, their standing among the world’s most prestigious academic institutions.

Europe also has just as much to lose. With EU funding, Israeli universities have delivered results in fields ranging from healthcare to food and water security.

At the Technion, researchers have developed an artificial nose capable of detecting signs of lung cancer through a patient’s breath.

Ben-Gurion University is helping establish sustainable food systems in six African countries.

At Tel Aviv University, an EU-funded team is working on the genetic engineering of immune cells to fight cancer. These are just three examples among thousands.

As Europe competes with the United States and Asia in artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and biotechnology, weakening this partnership would be a strategic mistake for both sides. Whatever disagreements one may have with a government, universities and researchers should never be targeted.

The decisions are being made now

Horizon Europe runs until 2027. The EU is currently negotiating its next seven-year research and innovation programme, covering the period 2028–2034. These negotiations will determine its budget, priorities, as well as which countries will be eligible to participate and under what conditions.

Once established, these rules will remain in force for seven years. Critical decisions will be made in the coming months. Securing Israel’s place in this programme must become a national strategic priority.

Some allies have already taken action. In October 2026, three German Länder called on the Federal Council (Bundesrat) to support Israel’s full participation in the next programme. Israel needs many more voices like theirs.

This requires a coordinated and proactive effort and should become a diplomatic priority for Israel’s new government. Universities must also mobilise their European partners and make their case directly to university presidents, governments and EU institutions. Friends of universities associations, alumni networks and European colleagues all have a role to play. Israeli diplomats and political allies must work closely with the academic community.

An opportunity to build the future

This moment is also an opportunity to rethink the future of Israeli academia, rather than simply defend its past.

Water scarcity, food insecurity, public health and emerging technologies such as quantum technologies and artificial intelligence know no borders. Israel shares these challenges, and the interests arising from them, with its neighbours across the Mediterranean and the Gulf.

Research partnerships bringing together Israeli, European, American, Moroccan, Cypriot, Greek and Gulf universities would be stronger, more resilient and far harder to marginalise.

The Abraham Accords created a diplomatic framework. Scientific and academic cooperation can give it substance, building the next major research and education platform for the Mediterranean and the Middle East, while adding an innovative dimension through regional incubators in each participating country.

This is the vision behind the MED/MENA International Alliance (MIA): a new generation of partnerships bringing together leading universities and incubators across the Mediterranean, the Middle East and North Africa to address our shared challenges.

Israel and Europe both have far too much to lose. But it is up to Israel to act — and to act now.

Contact me: Vhoffenberg1@gmail.com