Ben-Gurion University of the Negev announced the suspension of Dr. Sebastian Ben Daniel, a lecturer in the Department of Computer Science, following a public outcry that arose after he defamed the soldiers of the IDF on the X social network.
The university administration stated that the decision was made after a conversation between the rector and the lecturer, during which it was decided that he would be suspended until the investigation into his case is complete.
Ben Daniel, known online by the nickname John Brown, recently published several tweets in which he accused IDF soldiers of murdering children.
In one of his tweets, he wrote: "This 7-year-old boy was murdered by order of a Death Eater from the Eli Academy. Not accidentally, a targeted shooting in order to kill... The soldiers who receive it must be willing executioners." In another tweet, he claimed that "IDF soldiers murder babies, not because of orders, but because they were raised to be baby killers." In the past, he even published posts in which he accused the IDF and the Israeli justice system of responsibility for the murder of Palestinian Arabs.
Following these remarks, the Im Tirtzu movement led a petition calling for Ben Daniel's dismissal. "We condemn and oppose the defamatory and unfounded statements that accuse us and our military comrades of infanticide," the petition, signed by over 500 students, reads. Ernest Ivnitsky, the head of Im Tirtzu's student division, said: "Dr. Ben Daniel is welcome to teach at universities in the United States, where his antisemitic views will be accepted. He has no place in Israeli academia."
Ben-Gurion University issued an official statement clarifying that it "condemns and rejects in the strongest terms John Brown's slanderous remarks against IDF soldiers," but noted that the remarks were not part of his academic activities. In addition, Dr. Ben Daniel sent a letter to his students, in which he clarified and apologized to those who were offended by his published remarks.