Professors for a Strong Israel

Professors for a Strong Israel is described as a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Israel’s security and Jewish character.[1] It describes itself as a non-partisan organization of academics united by concern for those objectives.[2] Israel Hayom has described its academics as affiliated with the nationalist camp.[2]

As of September 2026, Amihood Amir serves as chairman. He is a professor emeritus of computer science at Bar-Ilan University and a research professor at Georgia Tech.[5]

The available records do not establish the organization’s founding date, founders, or early development. A National Library of Israel catalog entry bears the Hebrew title חוג הפרופסורים לחוסן מדיני וכלכלי, which may correspond to the organization.[6] The Jewish Virtual Library lists Professors for a Strong Israel among websites related to U.S.-Israel relations, but provides no organizational chronology.[7]

In June 2020, Professors for a Strong Israel called on the Israeli government to apply sovereignty in the Jordan Valley and in Jewish communities in the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — describing the Trump administration’s peace initiative as creating a historic opportunity.[2] The organization urged the government to act “without hesitation” despite what it acknowledged were challenges inherent in the plan.[2]

In March 2023, 120 academics associated with the organization signed a declaration supporting the government’s proposed judicial overhaul.[4] The signatories argued that reforms were necessary to correct what they characterized as a “constitutional revolution” led by former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak, which they said had disrupted the balance among Israel’s branches of government.[4] The declaration cited judicial review of legislation and Basic Laws, expanded standing and justiciability, greater use of the reasonableness doctrine, objective statutory interpretation, and expanded authority for government legal advisers.[4] The academics stated that dialogue and broad consensus would be preferable but that the reforms should proceed regardless, with the Knesset serving as the proper venue for the debate.[4] Support for the declaration later grew to more than 400 signatories.[4]

Named signatories included Nobel laureate Yisrael Aumann of the Hebrew University, Ariel University emeritus legal scholar Talia Einhorn, Bar-Ilan University rector Amnon Albeck, former Bar-Ilan rector Yosef Yeshurun, former Knesset member and medical professor Aryeh Eldad, and Bar-Ilan literature professor emeritus Hillel Weiss.[4]

On March 6, 2025, the organization issued a letter supporting the government’s decision to pursue the dismissal of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.[3] The letter stated that “the role of the attorney general is to assist the government in implementing its policy within the framework of the law, and not to serve as an insurmountable obstacle,” and alleged that Baharav-Miara’s conduct violated democratic principles and popular sovereignty.[3]

In October 2025, the organization condemned a Tel Hai College lecturer’s comparison of Israel to the Third Reich.[1] It argued that academic freedom does not license slander, incitement, or denigration of Israel and the Jewish people. It called on Education Minister Yoav Kisch and the Council for Higher Education to establish guidelines distinguishing between “freedom of thought and freedom of slander.”[1] It also called for disciplinary measures, including suspension, against lecturers who use academic platforms to act against the state.[1]

The organization holds an annual conference bringing together academics, politicians, and security figures. Its February 9–10, 2026, gathering at Jerusalem’s Olive Tree Hotel drew cabinet ministers, Knesset members, academics, and security officials.[8] Agenda topics included Israel’s post–October 7, 2023, geopolitical challenges, national resilience, sovereignty, foundational values, regional threats, and the formation of a unified political front for the right-wing camp.[8]

Participants included Likud lawmaker Amit Halevi, former Knesset member Moshe Feiglin, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Regavim director-general Meir Deutsch, and IDF Brigadier General (res.) Oren Solomon.[8] Solomon received the conference’s National Resilience Award for his bravery on October 7, 2023, when he, his son, and two police officers entered the Re’im area and fought large forces of Nukhba terrorists for ten hours despite not being properly equipped for battle. The award also recognized his subsequent work investigating IDF shortcomings that preceded the attack.[8]

The organization’s largest documented collective intervention in the available sources was its 2023 judicial-overhaul declaration, which began with 120 academics and later exceeded 400 signatories.[4] Its annual conference also provides a forum for ministers, lawmakers, academics, and security officials to discuss national resilience, sovereignty, regional threats, and political cooperation.[8]

Together with its public letters on sovereignty and the attorney general, these activities show its role as an academic advocacy network engaged in current policy disputes.[2][3] Its intervention concerning the Tel Hai lecturer extended that advocacy into debate over the institutional limits of academic freedom.[1]

Several of the organization’s interventions concern contested political, constitutional, and academic questions. It supported applying Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria and backed the government’s proposed judicial overhaul.[2][4] It later endorsed pursuing the attorney general’s dismissal and called for institutions to have disciplinary authority over lecturers who compare Israel to the Third Reich or question Israel’s right to exist.[3][1]

The organization frames these positions as defenses of national security, democratic balance, popular sovereignty, and responsible limits on academic freedom.[2][3] Although it describes itself as non-partisan, Israel Hayom has described its academics as affiliated with the nationalist camp.[2]