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Israel Establishes First University on Post-1967 Land

Israel upgraded a college in a Jewish community built on land Israel captured in the 1967 war to a university, in a sign that Israel would hold onto the community even after a peace deal with the Palestinians. The decision gives the Ariel campus, established in 1982 near the Palestinian city of Nablus, the same status as universities inside Israel. “For the first time in decades, Israel has a new university,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. The decision comes amid controversy over Israel’s decision to build thousands of new housing units in parts of Jerusalem that Israel annexed after 1967 after the United Nations upgraded “Palestine” to a non-member observer state. The Palestinian Higher Education Office condemned the decision on the Ariel campus and urged universities worldwide to boycott it