The University of Manchester plans to restart research collaboration with Tel Aviv University, three years after the partnership was suspended during the Gaza war. The decision comes despite strong student opposition and a union vote calling for the university to cut ties.
The plans were first reported exclusively by The Mancunion, which uncovered Tel Aviv University’s inclusion in Manchester’s new Global Fund scheme.
The fund will support joint research projects between Manchester academics and researchers at selected universities around the world.
Manchester will contribute up to £5,000 towards each project, while participating universities are expected to provide similar funding.
An application page linked through university guidance explicitly lists Tel Aviv University as one of the institutions involved.
Other named universities include Heidelberg University, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Peking University and the University of Texas at Austin.
However, Manchester’s original StaffNet announcement did not identify the participating universities. A separate guidance document also did not list them directly.
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The universities could instead be found through the application materials linked from those documents.
Manchester said the fund was created to strengthen international research links and support collaboration with universities overseas.
Professor Angie Wilson said the initiative would contribute towards Manchester’s 2035 strategy and its ambition to build high-impact international partnerships.
Manchester and Tel Aviv previously operated a joint research programme between 2021 and 2023.
That scheme funded 18 projects covering subjects including biorobotics, language policy and other areas of academic research.
Manchester has previously said none of those projects involved defence research or had military connections. The partnership was postponed in 2023 because of the Israel-Hamas war, according to a freedom of information response.
Students accuse university of ignoring opposition
The planned revival follows years of protests against Manchester’s relationship with Tel Aviv University.
In October 2025, 94% of votes cast at a Students’ Union Assembly supported a motion calling for the partnership to end. The vote attracted a turnout of 4,831.
Opposition had already emerged several years earlier. More than 200 academics signed an open letter in 2021 urging Manchester to abandon the collaboration.
The signatories accused Tel Aviv University of involvement in Israeli policies towards Palestinians and questioned whether the partnership matched Manchester’s ethical commitments.
Pro-Palestine campaigners later occupied university buildings and organised demonstrations demanding an end to Manchester’s institutional links with Israeli organisations.
Action 4 Palestine strongly condemned the latest development.
The group accused Manchester of quietly restoring the partnership while many students and staff were away during the summer. It also alleged that Tel Aviv University maintains extensive links with Israel’s military establishment.
Campaigners pointed to university-linked research, military programmes and business connections as reasons academics should refuse to participate. The group called on Manchester researchers to boycott the Global Fund partnership.
It also warned that campaigning would continue until the university ended its relationship with Tel Aviv University.
Manchester University defends collaboration
Manchester University rejected criticism that the partnership compromises its academic or ethical standards.
A university spokesperson said its collaborations are academic and exist to advance knowledge.
Manchester said all projects must comply with UK law and the university’s research and ethics frameworks.
Participation will also remain voluntary for individual academics.
The university said its governing bodies have previously considered proposals to end the Tel Aviv partnership.
Those proposals were rejected following discussions involving legal, ethical and academic considerations.
Manchester University also defended the way the Global Fund was announced.
It said the StaffNet notice was intended as an early overview before the scheme’s formal launch.
Information naming participating institutions was available through linked guidance and application materials, according to the university.
Manchester said Tel Aviv University is among six universities included in the first funding call. A second round involving different institutions is planned for spring 2027.
