PM says Hebrew U nixing anthem to avoid offending Arab students ‘disgraceful’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticizes the Hebrew University of Jerusalem over a report saying the national anthem would not be sung at a graduation ceremony of the Humanities Faculty tonight so as not to offend Arab students.

Netanyahu in a statement called the move “a disgrace” and “the height of servility, the opposite of national pride.”

“We are proud of our country, our flag, our anthem, and it only strengthens my resolve to pass the Jewish state bill that we are leading, in order to anchor in law the national symbols that are so dear to us,” he says.

Army Radio reported that it had obtained a recording of a student querying the decision to not sing Hatikva during the ceremony at the Mount Scopus campus, and being told by a faculty employee that it was out of “consideration for the other side” — an apparent reference to Arab students.

— Stuart Winer