After the UK’s National Union of Students (NUS) voted Tuesday to join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, an umbrella organization for UK universities rejected a call to do the same.

The board of Universities UK said Wednesday that it “firmly opposes” any academic boycott of Israeli universities, reported Ynet.

“The board of Universities UK is committed to the free exchange of ideas between universities and between academics, regardless of nationality or location,” the group’s statement said. “The board therefore firmly opposes academic boycotts on the basis that they are inimical to academic freedom, including the freedom of academics to collaborate with other academics.”

The statement continues, “The board also confirms its view that all universities must uphold, in the interests of free expression of ideas, the fundamental right of academics to question national and international policies.”

Motion 518, “Justice for Palestine,” passed by the NUS on Tuesday, with a majority of 19 votes in favor, 12 votes against and three abstentions. The decision was roundly criticized by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“This is less than a year after they refused to support a boycott of ISIS,” Netanyahu said in a meeting with Canadian Foreign Minister Robert Nicholson in Jerusalem. “They boycott Israel but they refuse to boycott ISIS. That tells you everything you want to know about the BDS movement. They condemn Israel and do not condemn ISIS; they condemn themselves.

“Israel has an exemplary democracy,” Netanyahu continued. “We have academic freedom, press freedom, human rights. ISIS tramples human rights to the dust. It burns people alive in cages and the national student groups in Britain refuse to boycott ISIS and have boycotted Israel.”

The NUS motion condemns Israel’s military presence in the West Bank and Gaza, and mandates the student body to “coordinate a nationwide student day of action to commemorate UN Palestine solidarity Day on 29 November.”

It accuses the IDF of “directly attacking the right to education in Gaza,” noting that “UN schools and the Islamic University of Gaza were amongst the infrastructure Israel targeted during its assault on Gaza.”

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked called the motion “anti-Semitism under new guise with the same symptoms.”

“There is a de-legitimization campaign against Israel happening right now. These are ephemeral organizations and we need to stop cooperating with them and cut ties, have them pay for their boycotts,” she added.