Full methodological transparency for the Who Signed? audit: how 2,844 faculty were identified, how 1,434 signers were verified, inclusion/exclusion criteria, deduplication, edge cases, limitations, and how to report errors.
OLAM RESEARCH · WHO SIGNED SERIES
Full methodological transparency for the Who Signed? audit. How we collected names, how we verified them, what we included, what we excluded, and how to report errors.
This document describes the methodology behind Who Signed? An Audit of Political Petition Participation Among Israeli University Faculty. Every methodological decision is disclosed here so that journalists, researchers, and readers can evaluate the study's rigor independently.
Scope
What we measured: Israeli university faculty members who publicly signed their names to political petitions containing explicit claims about Israel and Palestinian governance between October 2024 and August 2026.
What we did not measure: Classroom curriculum, private political views, organizational membership, social media activity, op-ed publication, or any form of political expression beyond petition signing.
Population: 2,844 faculty members across 8 leading Israeli research universities (2,040 at those 8 institutions) plus 804 additional faculty at smaller colleges captured through petition rosters.
Institutional Sample
Eight universities were selected based on size (largest faculty rosters), research intensity (highest publication rates), and diversity (geographic, religious, institutional type).
| Institution | Type | Faculty Audited | Selection Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tel Aviv University | Public research | 537 | Largest secular research university |
| Hebrew University of Jerusalem | Public research | 449 | Oldest, elite, second-largest |
| University of Haifa | Public regional | 335 | Regional diversity, northern Israel |
| Ben-Gurion University | Public regional | 242 | Negev presence, mixed disciplines |
| Bar-Ilan University | Private religious | 207 | Modern-Orthodox perspective |
| Open University of Israel | Distance learning | 119 | Non-traditional institution |
| Technion | Public tech | 85 | STEM-focused, elite |
| Weizmann Institute | Private research | 66 | Pure research, elite |
Not included: Ariel University, Reichman University, Sapir Academic College, Tel Hai Academic College, Shenkar College, community colleges, and other regional colleges were not specifically sampled. Some faculty at these institutions appear in the database because they were captured through petition rosters. Phase Two will expand systematic sampling to additional institutions.
Effect of exclusions: Missing institutions skew toward religious or politically conservative faculty. Their inclusion would likely lower the overall participation rate below 50.4%. Our figure likely overestimates participation across all Israeli academia.
Data Sources
Petition Rosters
| Petition | Date | Source | Signers in DB | Archive Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Flag Action Group | May 2025 | academia.edu/129505708 | 1,387 | Archived |
| Scientists for Gaza | August 2025 | sites.google.com/view/statement-by-scientists-gaza | 28 | Archived |
| Sanctions Petition | October 2024 | israel-academia-monitor.com | 20 | Archived |
| International Law Scholars | 2024 | verfassungsblog.de | 8 | Archived |
| Artists/Intellectuals | August 2025 | Jerusalem Post (jpost.com/israel-news/article-862710) | 9 | Archived |
All petition sources have been preserved via Archive.org snapshots, direct URL preservation, and screenshots where petitions have since been removed or modified.
Faculty Directories
Each signer was verified against their institution's official online faculty directory. Directories were accessed between January and August 2026. Department, rank, and affiliation data were extracted from these directories.
Inclusion Criteria
A faculty member is included in the database if ALL of the following conditions are met:
1. Publicly posted. The petition was published on a publicly accessible website, not circulated privately or shared only within closed groups.
2. Source-linked. The original petition document or signatory roster is retrievable and has been archived. We can point to where the name appears.
3. Named explicitly. The roster lists the signer by name — not by initials, pseudonym, or anonymous entry.
4. Institutionally affiliated. The signer was affiliated with one of the audited universities at the time of signing, or is clearly identified as faculty of that institution in the petition roster.
5. Politically explicit. The petition contains specific claims about Israel/Palestine policy — not general human rights statements, humanitarian appeals without political framing, or statements about unrelated topics.
Exclusion Criteria
Faculty were excluded if:
• Private correspondence only. Signed a private letter or email chain that was not published publicly.
• Unclear affiliation. Listed on a petition but not verifiable as faculty at any audited institution.
• Ambiguous identification. Initials only, pseudonym, or name too common to verify without additional data.
• Graduate students. Enrolled students (MA, PhD) were excluded from faculty count. Postdoctoral researchers with faculty titles were included.
• Non-academic staff. Administrative staff, technical staff, and non-teaching employees were excluded even if they appeared on petition rosters.
• General human rights statements. Petitions about humanitarian aid, ceasefire, or peace that did not contain specific political claims about Israel's legitimacy, governance, or policy were excluded.
Verification Process
For each name extracted from a petition roster:
Step 1: Search university faculty directory for exact name match.
Step 2: Cross-reference department listing and academic rank.
Step 3: Verify current or recent affiliation (active faculty, emeritus, or recently departed).
Step 4: Record rank/title where available (Prof., Dr., Senior Lecturer, Lecturer).
Step 5: Flag any edge cases (emeritus, visiting, joint appointments) for separate review.
Match rate: 1,434 of 1,434 names successfully matched to at least one institution (100%).
Edge Cases
Joint appointments: Faculty listed at multiple institutions were recorded at their primary institutional affiliation (the institution where they hold their primary appointment).
Visiting scholars: Included if they claimed academic affiliation at the time of signing. Excluded if they were temporary visitors with no departmental listing.
Emeritus faculty: Included if they claimed institutional affiliation at the time of signing. Approximately 6% of signers are identified as emeritus. Their participation shows that political engagement continues beyond active employment.
Adjunct faculty: Included if listed in university records as faculty members. Not included if they were contractors or occasional lecturers without institutional listing.
Postdoctoral researchers: Included if they held faculty titles (Lecturer, Senior Lecturer). Excluded if they were classified as students.
Deduplication
Raw petition entries: 1,452 total entries across all five petition rosters (1,387 + 28 + 20 + 8 + 9).
Overlap identified: 18 individuals appeared on 2 or more petition rosters. These are the "multiple signers" documented in the study.
Final unique count: 1,434 individuals.
Process: Names were compared across all petition rosters. Exact matches were flagged automatically. Near-matches (variant spellings, transliteration differences between Hebrew and English) were reviewed manually. No automated fuzzy-matching was used without manual verification.
Department Assignment
Source: University faculty directories list department affiliation. We used official institutional listings.
Coverage: 1,516 of 2,844 records (53%) have specific department data. For the remaining 1,328, only institutional affiliation was available (e.g., "Tel Aviv University" but not specific department). These appear in institutional totals but not in department-specific analysis.
Department classification: Departments were grouped into standard academic categories (Middle Eastern Studies, Sociology, Law, Engineering, etc.) for cross-institutional comparison. Sub-departments (e.g., "Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies" at HUJI vs. "Middle Eastern and African History" at TAU) were mapped to comparable categories.
Title/Rank Data
Coverage: 1,174 of 1,434 signers (82%) have title data: 755 listed as Prof. (full professor) and 419 as Dr.
Source: Academic titles were extracted from university faculty directories and petition rosters. "Prof." indicates full professor status in the Israeli academic system. "Dr." indicates a faculty member with a doctoral degree who has not yet reached full professor rank.
Limitation: 260 signers (18%) lack title data in our records. They are included in aggregate counts but not in rank-specific analysis.
Petition Categories
Petitions were classified into three categories based on their content. Categories were NOT merged for aggregate analysis — each category is reported separately.
Category A — Apartheid framing: Petitions explicitly stating that "Israel practices apartheid" or endorsing that claim. Primary source: Black Flag Action Group petition (May 2025).
Category B — Humanitarian/Gaza: Petitions focused on Gaza humanitarian crisis, scientific community response, or ceasefire advocacy without necessarily using apartheid language. Primary source: Scientists for Gaza (August 2025).
Category C — Other political petitions: Petitions calling for international sanctions, academic boycotts, or international legal intervention. Includes Sanctions Oct 2024, International Law Scholars, Artists/Intellectuals Aug 2025.
Data Quality Assurance
• All petition sources archived (Archive.org + direct URL preservation + screenshots)
• Every name cross-checked against institutional directories (multiple verification passes)
• Deduplication log preserved for audit purposes
• No inference or estimation used — every record is source-linked to an original document
• Edge case decisions (emeritus, visiting, joint appointments) documented and consistent across all institutions
Known Limitations
1. Sample bias. Eight universities were selected for size and prominence. They are not a random sample of all Israeli academia. Missing institutions (Ariel, Reichman, Sapir, community colleges) likely have lower participation rates. The 50.4% figure applies only to the audited sample.
2. Petition completeness. Some petition rosters may be incomplete as published online. The Scientists for Gaza roster, for example, may have additional signers not captured in the publicly available version.
3. Temporal snapshot. This audit captures participation as of August 2026. Faculty who signed after our data collection ended, or who signed petitions we did not track, are not included.
4. Department data gaps. 47% of records lack specific department data. Department-level analysis is based on the 53% with department assignments and may not be representative of the full signer population.
5. Title data gaps. 18% of signers lack title data. Rank-specific analysis is based on the 82% with titles.
6. Petition signing ≠ ideology. Signing a petition is one form of political expression. It does not verify the signer's complete views, motivations, or ongoing commitment to the petition's claims.
Corrections and Appeals
Anyone listed in this database can request removal or correction.
Grounds for removal:
• Factual error (wrong name, wrong institution, wrong petition attribution)
• Not affiliated with any audited institution at the time of signing
• Name appeared on a petition roster in error (documented evidence required)
Process:
• Contact: [editorial contact for corrections]
• Review: Independent verification against original petition source
• Timeline: 30-day response
• Public correction: If an error is confirmed, the record will be removed and a correction noted
Reproducibility
This study is designed to be reproducible. Any researcher with access to the same petition rosters and university faculty directories can replicate the methodology, verify individual records, and reach comparable results.
The inclusion criteria, exclusion criteria, deduplication process, and edge-case decisions are all documented above. No proprietary tools, private data sources, or undisclosed methods were used.
Related
📖 Who Signed? (Flagship study)
📖 Who Teaches Judaism in America? (Companion study)
Ronn Torossian is an Israeli-American entrepreneur, author and philanthropist. He is the author of two best-selling editions of For Immediate Release.