University Reports Theft of Busts Depicting Israel’s First President

Law enforcement authorities are looking into accounts of a break-in at a higher education institution where two sculptures of Israel’s inaugural president were removed. Online video evidence depicted two individuals, their faces obscured, shattering a glass enclosure within the University of Manchester’s chemistry facility and seizing two busts of Chaim Weizmann, who previously served as a lecturer at the institution during the early 20th century. The Palestine Action Group stated that it had “abducted” the busts, explaining the action was intended to commemorate the Balfour Declaration of 2 November, 1917. This declaration saw British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour express support for the creation of a “national home for Jewish people.” Greater Manchester Police confirmed that it had “received a report of a burglary at a university building on Oxford Road, Manchester… shortly before midnight last night.” Weizmann had instructed students at the university following his relocation to England from Belarus in 1904, and he assumed the presidency of Israel in 1948, soon after the nation’s founding. Palestine Action asserted that Weizmann had “secured the Balfour Declaration.” Elsewhere in the United Kingdom, activists affiliated with Palestine Action directed their actions towards the London premises of the Britain-Israel Communications and Research Centre and the Jewish National Fund. Additionally, they applied red paint to structures at the University of Cambridge. A representative for the University of Manchester stated that the institution was “aware of footage circulating online following an incident last night at our chemistry building” and had informed law enforcement. In a post shared on X, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham declared: “I will ask Greater Manchester Police to ensure that there is the fullest possible investigation into this appalling act of vandalism and that those responsible are held to account.” He further stated: “I will also support the University of Manchester in reassuring all students and staff, particularly those from the Jewish community, of their safety on campus.”