The prize-winning physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking has become one of the most high-profile figures so far to join the academic boycott of Israel. Hawking has dropped out of an international conference scheduled in Israel next month. In a statement, Hawking said he made the decision after consulting with Palestinian academics who asked him to respect the global campaign to boycott Israeli institutions in protest of violations of Palestinian human rights. Hawking said: “Had I attended I would have stated my opinion that the policy of the present Israeli government is likely to lead to disaster.”