Professor: Brain drain similar to Jews' escape from pre-war Germany

Nobel Prize Winner Prof. Aaron Ciechanover commented Monday on the brain drain phenomenon in Israeli academia and said that the severe manner in which Israeli scientists are treated is reminiscent of the time when Jewish scientists fled Germany before WWII.

Speaking at a press conference marking one year since the publication of the recommendations of the Shochat Committee for reform in higher education, which was headed by former Minister of Finance Avraham (Baige) Shochat, Ciechanover said: "In Germany, those who could fled before the Holocaust. It even has a name – 'Hitler's gift'.

"What concerns me most is the way scientists are being treated in Israel. People are feeling pressured and persecuted, particularly scientists. In Germany such pressure led to the scientists' escape before the Holocaust," he said.

During the press conference members of the Council for Higher Education slammed the government for not implementing the Shochat report's recommendations, and the council's Planning and Budgeting Committee chairman, Professor Shlomo Grossman said "if we do not adopt the report, the academic year won't open in October and we will not be able to continue managing the higher education system".

Education Minister Yuli Tamir told reporters that "time has run out on the higher education system. A significant allocation of funds is required."

Last week Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On criticized the Higher Education Council and the university heads during a hearing on a proposal calling to strengthen the higher education system, saying "you all travel abroad an astronomical number of times a year and say it is in the name of academic freedom."