My eyebrows shot up when I read your post, and I had to question its validity. However, a brief ixquick search turned up this:
“Support Israel’s Government? Linux Mint Developer Says Go Away”
http://abriefhistory.org/?p=774
Yes, I think he took some flack for that, and rightly so.
I raised my eyebrows when I read of it when it was current news.
There was (and is) a group of Euro intellectuals who want peer review, article submissions, etc., to exclude Israelis. He probably “me too’d” that movement, which is still kicking in some “smart” quarters — including The Lancet.