NEW : Founder of Palestinian boycott movement welcomes Hawking 's decision . The Jerusalem Post reports that Hawking has visited Israel four times , most recently in 2006 , when he lectured at Israeli and Palestinian universities . Physicist Stephen Hawking decides to pull out of a high-profile conference in Israel . He will not attend the opening ceremony for this year's World Science Festival, which is being held at Tel Aviv University on Tuesday and Wednesday. Conference organizer says academic boycott against Israel is `` outrageous and improper ''
NEW : Founder of Palestinian boycott movement welcomes Hawking 's decision . Physicist Stephen Hawking decides to pull out of a high-profile conference in Israel . He will not attend the opening ceremony for this year's World Science Festival, which is being held at Tel Aviv University on Tuesday and Wednesday. Conference organizer says academic boycott against Israel is `` outrageous and improper ''