DTU and the Israeli Embassy

Introduction

In early 2026, more than two years after the start of Israel's onslaught on Gaza and 6 months after the United Nations officially determined that Israel's actions legally meet the threshold for genocide [1], DTU's rector Anders Bjarklev took to LinkedIn to boast of a meeting that occurred between representatives of Danish higher academia, the rector of Technion, the Israeli Embassy in Denmark, and the Rothschild Foundation [2]. From the images provided it appears that the meeting took place at DTU's Building 101. A screenshot of the post shown below:

Original

Translation

There are several notable things about this post. First is the choice of DTU's rector to publicly signal the university's commitment to supporting Israeli institutions despite Israel's continued human rights abuses as well as its waning popularity both globally and within Denmark. Second is the apparent wariness of other Danish academia representatives to do the same. The post by the Israeli embassy states that other Danish universities were also represented at this meeting but the lack of specificity suggests that those institutions did not want to be publicly associated. Third is the way in which this communiqué highlights the role that the embassy plays in facilitating and reinforcing the connections between Danish academic institutions and entities in Israel. In this post we will begin to explore how the Danish and Israeli embassies work to further enmesh the two countries with a focus on how it impacts DTU.

PSN DTU used a Freedom of Information Request used to obtain documents from the meeting.

No meeting minutes were provided as a part of this collection of documents so the exact details of what was discussed is unknown to us. However we were able to determine the following details about the visit: On February 3rd 2026, the H.E. Ambassador, Zvi Tal, representatives from the Edmond de Rothschild Bridge for Higher Education and Employment, the ministry of finance, and seven Israeli universities were hosted at Building 101 on DTU's Lyngby campus. The meeting was part of a large, higher education tour through Europe and America that was funded and organized through the Edmond de Rothschild Bridge for Higher Education and Employment, an Israeli organization which focuses on developing Israeli universities and employment opportunities. The tour consisted of ushering the rectors of 7 Israeli universities (Ben Gurion University, Western Galilee College, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Bar-Ilan University, Technion, Sapir Academic College, Tel Aviv-Jaffa Academic College) through many universities showing them how to formulate effective educational programs.

The visit consisted of a 2-hour presentation from DTU heads Anders Overgaard Bjarklev (DTU President), Carsten Orth Gaarn-Larsen (Senior VP), Jonas Orebo Pyndt (Corporate Partnerships), Jens Øllgaard Duus (Vice Dean of Education), Stine Kruse (Head of Startup Support and Business Development). Following this, the group visited DTU Skylab, Science Park, and toured the DTU-owned pharmaceuticals company Bioneer A/S.

While the visit was not specifically about partnerships, it shows DTU's willingness to welcome, skill share, and maintain relationships with Israeli universities which are fueling the occupation and destruction of Palestine.

The titular slide of one of the presentations provided to us.

List of Attendees

From The Edmond de Rothschild Bridge for Higher Education and Employment, Learning Journey Council for Higher Education:

Prof. Ami Moyal - Chair of the Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Israeli Council for Higher Education
Naomi Beck - Deputy Director General, Strategy and International Affairs

From the Israeli Ministry of Finance

Kfir Battat - Deputy Director of the Budget Department, Israel's Ministry of Finance
Neta Bar Ziv - Head of Labor Market Team, Budget Department, Israel's Ministry of Finance

From Israeli Academic Institutions (in alphabetical order):

Prof. Nissim Ben David - President, Western Galilee Academic College and Head of Committee of College Heads of Israel (VARAM).
Prof. Daniel Chamovitz - President, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, and Chairperson of Association of Israeli University Heads (VERA).
Prof. Nir Kedar - President, Sapir College
Prof. Tamar Raz-Nahum - President, Azrieli College of Engineering, Jerusalem
Prof. Galia Sabar - President, The Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo
Prof. Tamir Sheafer - President, Hebrew University
Prof. Uri Sivan - President, Technion- Israeli Institute of Technology
Prof. Arie Zaban - President, Bar-Ilan University

From the Rothschild Foundation

Michael Kliger - Vice chairman, The Edmond de Rothschild Foundation (IL)
Elli Booch - Director of Philanthropy, The Edmond de Rothschild Foundation (IL)
Dana Bar – Head of Field of Higher Education Access and Success, The Edmond de Rothschild Foundation (IL)

From the Rothschild Bridge for Higher Education & Employment:

Ilil Amir-Kasif - Head of The Edmond de Rothschild Bridge for Higher Education and Employment
Dr. Yael Granot-Bein - Director of Research and Development, The Edmond de Rothschild Bridge for Higher Education and Employment
Tani Katz - Facilitator of Tour
Neta Cohen - Operational Manager of visit

Role of Foreign Affairs Ministries

Israeli Embassy in Denmark

As can be gathered from the LinkedIn post the Israeli embassy functions as a facilitator, setting up meetings between Danish and Israeli institutions. The aforementioned meeting included the highest representatives of both Danish and Israeli universities, the Israeli ambassador to Denmark, and representatives of the "charity" known as the Rothschild Foundation. For context, the Rothschild Foundation was founded 140 years ago by one of the wealthiest families in Europe who had bought into the Zionist project and set up the foundation in order to promote the creation of a Jewish majority state in historic Palestine. From the organizations website: "[Since] the end of the 19th century till today, the Rothschild family has been one of the pillars on which the Zionist vision and the State of Israel are based" [3]. The Rothschild family bought vast tracts of land, many of which are still owned and administered through their foundations, and placed those properties in the service of the Israeli state [4,5]. Today the organization says that it funds various initiatives in the fields of "higher education, academic excellence, arts, impact entrepreneurship, and leadership" for the benefit of Israel. Whether DTU has met previously with the Rothschild Foundation is unclear, although a 2026 publication does show that the foundation supported the work of an Israeli researcher who published with DTU counterparts [6]. Additionally, the foundation does provide scholarship and educational programs to students at Ariel University [7-9]. Ariel University is the only one of Israel's accredited universities located entirely within an illegal settlement. In 2012 Anders Bjarklev, still then the rector at DTU, personally ended a collaboration between DTU and Ariel University, stating: "If you fund analyses in laboratories at Ariel university, it can be seen as supporting a settlement, something we will not" [10]. However it appears that the rector does not have any issues working together with agencies which fund programs in settlements nor with a government that removes Palestinians from their lands in the West Bank, encourages and finances the construction of settlements, and provides all of the services necessary to maintain them.

Outside of its services as a mediator, the Israeli embassy also organizes a yearly startup competition called Guldæg in collaboration with DTU Skylab and Innovation Center Denmark [11-13]. This competition dates back to at least 2015 [14] and serves to connect Danish startups to potential Israeli investors and business partners [15]. This mirrors the efforts of the embassy in providing support to mature businesses, whether they be Israeli companies trying to export into Denmark as well as Danish counterparts looking to invest within Israel [16].

Danish Embassy in Israel

The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the Ministry of Education runs the Innovation Center Denmark (ICDK), an organization which aims to leverage the embassy's diplomatic contacts in order to facilitate the commercialization of Danish technologies abroad [17]. ICDK has seven offices, including one in Tel Aviv since 2016 [18,19]. The group helps Danish companies export into Israel or find business partners there as well as connecting Israeli investors with Danish firms. In addition to the Guldæg competition, ICDK is also helping organize a summer school in Denmark during 2026 on quantum algorithms [20]. The summer school will feature representatives from Technion, Ben Gurion University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, and the Weizmann Institute of Science [21]. These efforts are a few examples of the many ways in which the Danish government has tried to normalize Israel despite its continued human rights abuses in the occupied West Bank and genocide in Gaza.

Citations

[1] United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. "Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, UN Commission finds." UNCHR Press Releases (Sept. 2025).
URL: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/israel-has-committed-genocide-gaza-strip-un-commission-finds

[2] Israeli Embassy in Denmark. "Tak til Rektor Anders Overgaard Bjarklev og DTU - Technical University of Denmark." LinkedIn (Mar. 2026).
URL: https://archive.ph/E9OOI

[3] Edmund de Rothschild Foundation - Israel. "History and Legacy." EDRF.org
URL: https://www.edrf.org.il/en/history-heritage/

[4] O. Kashti. "Rothschild Foundation Uses Threats to Keep Poor Arab Israeli Town Tiny." Haaretz (Jun. 2017)
URL: https://archive.ph/qhEan

[5] G. F. Cashman. "The truth about the Rothschild Foundation." The Jerusalem Post (Jun. 2021)
URL: https://archive.ph/srK6N

[6] J. Kastrup Larsen et al. "NEST: Network Enforced Session Types." arXiv.org (Apr. 2026)
URL: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2604.21795

[7] E. Lillelund. "Dansk strandkrabbe-startup vinder stor iværksætterkonkurrence." TechSavvy (Sept. 2023)
URL: https://techsavvy.media/dansk-strandkrabbe-startup-vinder-stor-ivaerksaetterkonkurrence/

[8] Edmund de Rothschild Foundation - Israel. "2017-2018 Highlights." EDRF.org
URL: https://www.edrf.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2017-2018-Highlights-Edr-Foundation-IL.pdf

[9] Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. "Alix de Rothschild Fellowship." (2025)
URL: https://archive.ph/BdtJm

[10] E. Cohen. "The Role of the Higher Education System in Israel: From Promoting Research and Teaching Values to Supporting Professional Training and the Labor Market." Ariel University (2025)

[11] F. Johannisson. "Danish universities work with illegal settlements." Danwatch (Nov. 2012)
URL: https://danwatch.dk/en/danish-universities-work-with-illegal-settlements/

[12] E. Lillelund. "Tax Helper vinder årets iværksætter-Guldæg 2021." TechSavvy (Aug. 2021)
URL: https://techsavvy.media/taxhelper-vinder-aarets-ivaerksaetter-guldaeg-2021/

[13] E. Lillelund. "Danske Planet Dairy indtog Israel med store ambitioner: Vi vil være et food tech-powerhouse." TechSavvy (Feb. 2023)
URL: https://techsavvy.media/danske-planet-dairy-indtog-israel-med-store-ambitioner-vi-vil-vaere-et-food-tech-powerhouse/

[14] Embassy of Israel Copenhagen. "Golden Egg X Innovation Centre Denmark Investor Summit." (Sept. 2024)
URL: https://embassies.gov.il/denmark/en/news/investorsummit2024

[15] Embassy of Israel Copenhagen. "Public Diplomacy and Innovation Department." (Mar. 2024)
URL: https://embassies.gov.il/denmark/en/the-embassy/departments/public-diplomacy-and-innovation-department

[16] Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry. "Israel's economic and trade mission to Denmark."
URL: https://itrade.gov.il/denmark/about/

[17] Innovation Center Denmark. "About us."
URL: https://icdk.dk/about-us/

[18] Innovation Center Denmark. "Our Locations: Tel Aviv."
URL: https://icdk.dk/our-locations/tel-aviv

[19] D. Whitbread. "Inside Israel: Denmark’s mission to harness the power of the startup nation." CPH Post (May 2018)
URL: https://cphpost.dk/2018-05-12/news/business/inside-israel-denmarks-mission-to-harness-the-power-of-the-startup-nation/

[20] Danish e-infrastructure Consortium. "Niels Bohr Quantum Summer School 2026."
URL: https://www.deic.dk/en/events/2026-08-10/niels-bohr-quantum-summer-school-2026

[21] Niels Bohr Quantum Summer School. LinkedIn (2025).
URL: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/niels-bohr-quantum-summer-school_nationalities-universities-activity-7316394713417162753-MbFy

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