The University of Turin in Italy announced a suspension of all collaboration agreements with Israeli academic and research institutes but rejected calls for a broader cessation of ties with Israeli universities.
In a vote last week, the university's Senate agreed only to suspend the “Italy-Israel industrial, scientific and technological cooperation agreement,” despite pressure from students supporting the Palestinians calling for at least nine collaborations to be included.
University rector Stefano Geuna said the decision was not a boycott of Israel or an act of antisemitism and that collaboration with Israeli universities would continue. “All the agreements currently in force with Israeli universities, and there are many, remain valid,” Geuna said.
Turin University's decision raised concern in the Italian Jewish community
Noemi Di Segni, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities said she was worried about the flood of antisemitism on university campuses and called on the Italian government to "ensure that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism is fully implemented by all Italian universities, making it abundantly clear that all forms of boycott and demonization are antisemitism.”