The 49th Archaeological Congress in Israel has been postponed due to political interference, the event organizers announced Wednesday night.
Initially planned for Thursday, April 3, the event has been postponed with no indication of when the event will be rescheduled.
Archaeologists from across Israel were scheduled to speak at the event, which was set to be hosted at the Israel Antiquities Authority’s (IAA) headquarters in Jerusalem.
The announcement came after Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu intervened in the Israel Exploration Society’s event, following a push from far-right activists over the participation of a lecturer who had previously called for the boycott of a West Bank archaeology conference.
לא אתן לעשבים שוטים באקדמיה, הפועלים לקידום חרמות על עמיתיהם הארכיאולוגים, לזרוק אבן בבאר המורשת של עם ישראל.הורתי לרשות העתיקות לבטל את השתתפותו של פרופ' רפי גרינברג בכנס חשוב בשל פעילותו.ריבוי דעות - מבורך, חרם ופגיעה במדינה לא בכלל ולא במימון המדינה או בהשתתפותה.---תודה… pic.twitter.com/y16uB2kJN1
— עמיחי אליהו - Amichay Eliyahu (@Eliyahu_a) April 2, 2025
Eliyahu, a minister from the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, objected to the participation of Tel Aviv University’s Raphael Greenberg, an archaeologist and professor who has previously called for the boycott of Israeli archaeological movements in the West Bank. In February, Greenberg published an open letter to his colleagues against their participation in “The First International Conference on Archaeology and Site Conservation of Judea and Samaria,” an event held in east Jerusalem.
On X, Eliyahu publicly spoke out against Greenberg’s participation. “I will not let the wild weeds in academia who are working to promote boycotts of their fellow archaeologists spit into the well of the heritage of the people of Israel where they drink,” he wrote. “I have instructed the Israel Antiquities Authority to cancel Prof. Rafi Greenberg’s participation in an important conference due to his activities. I welcome the diversity of opinions but will not allow boycott and harm to the state with state funding or participation.”
What is the significance of this lecturer's participation?
In addition to his role at Tel Aviv University, Greenberg serves as chairman of the board of NGO Emek Shaveh, an Israeli organization that is self-described as working “to defend cultural heritage rights and to protect ancient sites as public assets that belong to members of all communities, faiths and peoples.” The organization has also been outspoken against archaeological evidence across the region “becoming a political tool in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and work to challenge those who use archaeological sites to dispossess disenfranchised communities.”
Greenberg was expected to lecture on the “archaeologization” of Israel in a session on archaeology and politics. Emek Shaveh welcomed the decision to postpone the event, noting that a minister should not have the ability to interfere in an academic event.
The Jerusalem Post has been unable to reach Greenberg for comment.
“Rather than comply with the minister’s attempt to interfere in academic content, the congress organizers made the difficult but principled decision to cancel the event altogether,” the organization wrote on X. “This was not an easy decision — but when political actors attempt to dictate scholarly discourse, clear and firm responses are essential. Kudos to the archaeological community for standing up for the independence of scientific archaeology and academic freedom more broadly.”
After his interference, Eliyahu said that he disagreed with the event organizer's decision to “cancel” the event - which was not canceled but rather postponed.
“I regret the puzzling decision of the organizers of the important conference to cancel it, even though it could have been held, and to disappoint lovers of heritage and archaeology,” he wrote on X.