We have made our position extremely clear on this issue in recent weeks—including my recent visit to Israel, when I spoke to senior Government Ministers, academics, students and the media. We fully support academic freedom and are firmly against any academic boycotts of Israel or Israeli academics. While I appreciate the independence of the UCU, I am very disappointed that the union has decided to pass a motion which encourages its members to consider boycotting Israeli academics and education institutions. I profoundly believe this does nothing to promote the Middle East peace process, in fact the reverse.