Britain-Israel Research and Academic Exchange Partnership

The Britain-Israel Research and Academic Exchange Partnership (BIRAX) facilitates academic collaboration between Israel and the UK.

Establishment

BIRAX was set up in 2008 with the financial support of the British Council in Israel, the Pears Foundation and an early donation of £200,000 from the United Jewish Israel Appeal. Pears described the project as 'a major initiative launched by the Prime Ministers of both countries'..

While on a visit to Israel, then British Prime Minister Gordon Brown signed an agreement with then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to set up the partnership.

A British government press release state3d:

The British Council and the British Embassy, Israel, have given the go-ahead to seven, new, three-year bilateral scientific projects in the field of research on ageing. The work will be carried out by top institutions in the UK and Israel. The projects will be awarded nearly £2.8 million in total from BIRAX, a £10 million programme to support cutting edge UK-Israeli research. BIRAX Ageing will look at the effects of ageing on human health, and the use of precision medicine and big data in ageing research. It will bring together scientists from the Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical Centre, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, King’s College London, and Queen’s University Belfast.

The projects will focus on various aspects of ageing and how it affects diabetes, vascular disease, neuro-degenerative disease such as Multiple Sclerosis, brain imaging, as well as the use of technology for macular disease research... BIRAX Ageing research looks at the global challenges of ageing, bringing together world-class and complementary scientific capabilities to promote healthy ageing. It aims to establish and grow a substantial new academic community and support ground-breaking collaborative research in the field of ageing, funding both research mobility and joint research projects over the next five years. This crucial research will be generously supported by the Pears Foundation, The Israel Ministry of Science and Technology, The Parasol Foundation Trust, Charles Wolfson Charitable Trust, The Rosetrees Trust, Diabetes UK, The British Heart Foundation, and MS Society... BIRAX was initiated 8 years ago by the British Council, British Embassy in Israel and the UK Science and Innovation Network in collaboration with the Pears Foundation as a founding partner. So far, BIRAX has funded 19 research projects tackling some of the world’s most challenging health conditions and diseases by employing pioneering regenerative medicine and stem cell therapies and using the most advanced and cutting-edge technologies. The ground-breaking science has been made possible through the generous support of a broad family of partners and supporters including the Israel Ministry of Science and Technology, the British Heart Foundation, JDRF, MS Society, Parkinson’s UK, Alzheimer’s Society, the Medical Research Council, The Parasol Foundation Trust, The Rosetrees Trust, Weizmann UK, Clore Foundation Israel, Charles Wolfson Charitable Trust, The Wolfson Foundation, The Maurice and Vivienne Wohl Philanthropic Foundation, The Kahn Foundation, UJIA, Celia and Edward Atkin, The Sheila and Denis Cohen Charitable Trust, The Barbara and Stanley Fink Foundation, and The Glycobiology Institute of Oxford University.

Anti-BDS goal

According to Professor David Newman of Ben Gurion University, who was involved in planning the program, it 'has a great deal to do with the boycott' movement against Israel and countering BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions):

'Because of the ongoing discussion of boycotts the British government decided that the most appropriate response was to strengthen research ties'.

Criticism

Mike Cushman of the London School of Economics argued that universities should avoid the scheme, saying:

'Much of the finance for these partnerships is clearly coming from parts of the private and voluntary sectors that are allied to Israel ... We are urging our colleagues not to touch any of this funding with a bargepole. It is blood money and they should recognise it as such'.

Further projects

The UK-Israel Life Sciences Council, a British government-sponsored endeavour also set up to encourage UK-Israel research collaborations in response to the proposed academic and cultural boycott of Israel, announced was in 2010 on a visit to Israel by then Foreign Secretary William Hague. Also supported by the Pears Foundation and the Zabludowicz Trust, it was described as 'an ambitious expansion of the BIRAX scheme' and the British ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould, who chaired the first meeting state that the council was an expression of the British government's 'opposition to boycotts of Israel'.