Following the report on Channel 14: The storm surrounding the lecturer at Bezalel intensifies

Following the report on Channel 14: The IDF Disabled Veterans Forum turned today (Sunday) to the retired Supreme Court President, Esther Hayut, who serves as chair of the Bezalel executive committee, demanding her personal intervention in the affair and the taking of measures against the lecturer.

In the appeal, it is claimed that the statements and activity attributed to Grayeb on social media cannot remain unanswered by an academic institution in Israel, and certainly not a public and state-funded institution. Among other things, the Forum pointed to documented evidence that was exposed, in which Grayeb gave 'likes' to posts expressing support for armed struggle, to a post published after the killing of four Golani soldiers by a drone strike from Lebanon, and to content regarding the events of October 7. In addition, statements of his were previously published in which he refers to Israel as "Palestine" and questions the very existence of the State of Israel.

The IDF Disabled Veterans Forum claims that providing a platform for such statements within an academic institution creates a hostile and offensive environment for students serving in the reserves, IDF disabled veterans, war wounded, and bereaved family members. In the appeal to Hayut, the Forum demands to summon Grayeb for a disciplinary hearing, to suspend him until the end of the inquiry, and to examine his continued employment at Bezalel.

Joining the protest today was also the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, Arieh King, who turned to the President of Bezalel and announced that as far as he is concerned, the cooperation of the Jerusalem Municipality with the academy should be suspended until Grayeb is fired. King even called on students to use their freedom of speech, to protest against the continued employment of the lecturer, and to demand his dismissal.

However, in the meantime, Bezalel continues to maintain silence. We turned once again to the Bezalel institution with a request to receive their response to the allegations, to the appeal of the IDF disabled veterans, and to the demand to take measures against the lecturer — but until the publication of the article, no response was received.

Thus, a situation has been created in which the police have already opened an investigation, IDF disabled veterans are demanding action, a senior official in the Jerusalem Municipality is announcing the suspension of cooperation — yet the bodies that are supposed to set the boundaries within the higher education system are still not providing clear answers.

Chair of the executive committee Esther Hayut stated to Channel 14 in response:

"At this stage, the matter is being handled by the President of Bezalel, Prof. Adi Stern, and I am confident that the matter will be handled as required."

Shai Glick, CEO of B'Tsalmo, who filed the complaint with the police, stated:

"The reality in which Bezalel College continues to back the inciter and supporter of the massacre, Issa Grayeb, is inconceivable. All citizens of Israel, without political distinction, were harmed on October 7, but at Bezalel College, they are backing someone who supported the massacre. This is unbelievable, and we will do everything until the terror supporter is fired, arrested, and rots in prison like the worst of terrorists."

At the center of the affair also stands a broader question: where does the line pass between freedom of speech and academic freedom and statements or actions that could, apparently, amount to support for terror? And mainly — what is the responsibility of a public academic institution towards its students, including hundreds of reservists, when such serious allegations are directed against someone who stands before them.