The Orthodox Union opposed awarding the Israel Prize for political science to Zeev Sternhell, citing his writings on settlers.
The U.S.-based synagogue coalition blasted the choice of Sternhell, calling him “an academic whose writings and statements are beyond the pale of legitimate, civil dissent.”
It pointed to his assertion that “only he who is willing to storm Ofra with tanks will be able to block the fascist danger threatening to drown Israeli democracy,” and cited his belief that “there is no doubt about the legitimacy of armed resistance” by the Palestinians in the territories.
“If the Palestinians had a little sense, they would concentrate their struggle against the settlements” in the West Bank, instead of targets inside Israel, he wrote.
Sternhell earned his award this year for his world-renowned work charting the rise of fascism in Europe.
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