Im Tirtzu
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| Founded | 2006 |
|---|---|
| Type | Extra-parliamentary |
| Registration no. | 580471662 |
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Area served
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Israel |
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Key people
|
Ronen Shoval (Founder) |
| Slogan | "Building the Zionist dream" |
| Mission | "to strengthen and advance the values of Zionism in Israel" |
| Website | https://imti.org.il/en |
Im Tirtzu (Hebrew: אם תרצו, lit. 'If you will it') is a Zionistnon-governmental organization based in Israel. Its name is based on a phrase coined by Theodor Herzl – "אם תרצו, אין זו אגדה" or "If you will it, it is no dream."
The organization's stated mission is to "strengthen and advance the values of Zionism in Israel" and to combat the "campaign of de-legitimization against the State of Israel and to [provide] responses to Post-Zionist and Anti-Zionist phenomena".
Im Tirtzu operates fifteen branches at universities and colleges throughout the country and runs the largest Zionist academic extra-curricular program in Israel. Im Tirtzu is mostly known for its campaign against the New Israel Fund, foreign government-funded NGOs, and alleged bias in university curriculum.
Some have maintained that Im Tirtzu bears similarities to fascist groups, and others have labelled it an important Zionist movement.
In 2008, Im Tirtzu published a report about the syllabuses used in various academic departments in Israel. According to the report, authors who reject the notion of nationality, or support anti-Zionist views, get much more exposure in reading lists. In 2010, Im Tirtzu sent Rivka Karmi, the head of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev a letter, demanding that the university stop the anti-Zionist bias in its Department of Politics and Government. The letter alleged that 9 out of 11 professors in the department were involved in extreme left-wing activities (among others, attempting to persuade other countries to join the academic boycott of Israel). Im Tirtzu threatened to notify the donors of the university if the problem was not rectified.
In a joint statement about the above campaign, the heads of Israel's seven leading universities urged condemnation of what they called Im Tirtzu's "dangerous attempt to create a thought police". Im Tirtzu responded, "All Im Tirtzu asked from BGU is that a solution be found to the extreme bias found in the Political Science department, where only post-Zionist opinions are presented."
Following Im Tirtzu's report, the Israeli Council for Higher Education appointed an international committee to investigate the allegations. The committee came to the conclusion that the curriculum in the Political Science department was imbalanced. The committee said it was "concerned that the study of politics as a scientific discipline may be impeded by such strong emphasis on political activism", and recommended closing the department unless changes were made. The report was widely criticized by academics, who said that it was politically motivated, noting that well-known scholars had been rejected from the committee because of their political views and that the original committee chair had resigned. Minister of Education, Gideon Sa'ar, said "I believe the report is important since it encourages public discussion" but rejected any attempts to block or apply conditions for donations to Israeli universities.
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