Uruguay suspended the cooperation agreement between its National Research and Innovation Agency (ANII) and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, citing the latest Gaza operation and the decision to occupy Gaza City, according to Uruguayan media reports on Friday.
Israel’s Embassy in Uruguay lamented the decision.
“Using political disagreements as an excuse to destroy scientific cooperation is always a misfortune,” it said.
The decision comes just weeks after announcing the agreement, which would have seen the opening of offices from the Uruguayan agency in Jerusalem.
“The office was never formally used, without any personnel in it until now,” ANII president Alvaro Brunini told Uruguayan news outlet Telemundo. “There were plans to start online courses soon, but they hadn’t started yet.”
According to Brunini, the decision comes as a “pause” rather than a full-on cancellation of the project. “We understood that the best was to have a paused, reflective moment before continuing the process,” he stated.
Uruguay’s new left-wing government and its relationship with Israel
The decision also comes as the first main conflict between Uruguay’s new left-wing government and Israel, after almost five years of good relationships under the Luis Lacalle Pou right-wing administration.
Mario Lubetkin, Uruguay’s foreign minister, told the newspaper Ámbito Uruguay that the decision was also made as a formal response to Israel’s new operations planned for Gaza City and the whole Gaza Strip.
Uruguay’s Foreign Ministry also shared Lubetkin’s reasoning, explaining that the government doesn’t desire to share common projects with the Israeli administration in a moment of high geopolitical tensions, reported Ámbito.
Innovacion Uruguay, the name of the new innovation and entrepreneurship office, was planned to open on the Edmond J. Safra Campus, the university announced during the program’s launch.
“The Innovacion Uruguay office will serve as a central hub for fostering innovation, entrepreneurship, and collaboration,” it said.
The university also expected that the office would serve as “a platform to strengthen ties between Uruguay and Jerusalem.”