The Vice-Chancellor privately hosted the Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely when she visited the Oxford Union earlier this year, but refused to meet her publicly amid worry about public perception of the visit.
Emails obtained through a Freedom of Information request have revealed that despite a request for a public forum discussion from the Israeli embassy, University leaders agreed only to host a private visit. Instead, they let the Oxford Union host a public talk as part of a plan to let them “take any heat in terms of anti-Israel demonstrations”.
Tzipi Hotovely is an intensely controversial character, known for her rejection of the Palestinian state, belief that the West Bank should be incorporated into Israel, and denial that Nakba, a widespread genocide of Palestinians, took place.
The University decided that the visit would not be advertised and would consist solely of a private half hour meeting with the Vice-Chancellor, Irene Tracey. A suggestion to have another member of University staff host the roundtable was shot down over concerns that “it would raise questions”.
The communications team was also adamant that “should there be publicity around this visit, it will be important to be able to say we are showing equal regard and attention to Palestinian issues.”
The decision to allow the Oxford Union to be placed in the firing line will raise concerns amongst students over the treatment of the society and student welfare. The President at the time, Charlie Mackintosh, received serious threats over his invitation to Hotovely and was subject to targeted chants including “Charlie, Charlie, you can’t hide, you’re supporting apartheid”, while students outside the event were racially profiled by police.
The Oxford Union also purports itself to be an independent members-only debating society, but emails revealed in the FOI casts doubt on its independence. Less than a year before the Hilary 2023 visit of Hotovely, confidential emails reveal that the Oxford Union had been approached by the Vice-Chancellor’s office to host Hotovely, resulting in her visit in Trinity 2022.
The Bursar of the Oxford Union, in charge of operations and management, said during the organisation of the visit last summer that the visit was “in liaison with and at the request of the VC’s office”, while The Oxford Student has seen further evidence that corroborates the view that the Oxford Union believed it was hosting Hotovely at the request of the University.
Officials in the Vice-Chancellor’s office also acknowledged that they had introduced the Union President from Hilary 2022, Molly Mantle, to staff at the Israeli embassy.
The Union and University’s close relationship was first revealed last term during the Kathleen Stock trans right row when despite the SU passing a motion to end commercial relations with the Union, the “University informed [the SU] that they would recognise the Oxford Union as a student society”, granting them an exception to be allowed back into the Freshers’ Fair.
A University spokesperson commented, “The Vice-Chancellor, like her predecessor, continues to be happy to meet with the Israeli Ambassador. Any suggestion otherwise is totally inaccurate. The Vice-Chancellor meets dignitaries from a wide range of countries on a very regular basis.”
“It is also not unusual when diplomats and politicians visit Oxford, whether to the Union, a college or to the city, for meetings to be also set up with the University. To infer anything more than logistical convenience and coordination just shows a level of ignorance in how these visits are sometimes arranged.”
The University chose not to address the concerns raised about student welfare by the decision to “let the Union take the heat” or its role in introducing the Union President to Israeli Embassy staff.
The Oxford Union and VC Dame Louise Richardson declined to comment.
