Sir

I was delighted to see the Opinion article “Don't boycott Israel's scientists” (Nature 417, 1; 2002).

I do not pretend to be impartial: my father, his brother and sister survived the Shoah, but the entire rest of his family (more than 30 aunts, uncles and cousins) perished; I have spent each of my sabbaticals partly in Israel, have sponsored students and post-docs from Israel, and have binational science foundation grants.

I also serve on the Science Advisory Board of the Arava Institute of Environmental Studies, which attempts to simultaneously do good science and build bridges between Israel and its Arab neighbours.

I count Patrick Bateson as one of my friends and grieved to see him leading the UK scientists in the direction of a boycott.

Your Opinion article beautifully articulates the reasons for continuing to support Israeli science.