Israeli billionaire quits Harvard board in row over student letter

A group of 33 student organisations at Harvard University signed a letter arguing that Israel’s ‘apartheid regime’ created the impetus for the war

Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer has quit his role on the executive board of Harvard’s Kennedy School in the escalating row over a letter published by students holding Israel “entirely responsible” for the attacks by Hamas terrorists this week.

Shipping and chemicals mogul Idan Ofer and his wife, Batia, announced on Thursday that they were quitting their roles at Harvard “in protest of the shocking and insensitive response by the president of the university, who did not condemn the letter by student organizations who blamed Israel for the massacres”.

The Independent has contacted Harvard University for comment.

It came after a group of 33 student organisations at Harvard University, led by the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee, released a statement on social media on Saturday arguing that Israel’s “apartheid regime” created the impetus for the war.

“Today’s events did not occur in a vacuum,” the letter read. “For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison.”

“The apartheid regime is the only one to blame,” the group added, describing Israel’s subsequent campaign in Gaza as “colonial retaliation”.

The university’s president Claudine Gay then came under fire for the college’s response, after issuing a statement that did not appear to explicitly condemn Hamas.

“We write to you today heartbroken by the death and destruction unleashed by the attack by Hamas that targeted citizens in Israel this weekend, and by the war in Israel and Gaza now underway,” Harvard administrators wrote in a statement on Monday.

Harvard alumni and professors were among those slamming the university’s response, with former Harvard president and Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers decrying the “silence” from Harvard’s leadership.

“The silence from Harvard’s leadership, so far, coupled with a vocal and widely reported student groups’ statement blaming Israel solely, has allowed Harvard to appear at best neutral towards acts of terror against the Jewish state of Israel,” he wrote on X.

“To be clear nothing is wrong with criticizing Israeli policy past, present or future,” he added. “I have been sharply critical of PM Netanyahu. But that is very different from lack of clarity regarding terrorism.”

Former Harvard Medical School Dean Jeffrey Flier called on the university to issue a statement denouncing Hamas, while the university’s Jewish centre Harvard Hillel, argued the statement contributed to “further hatred and anti-Semitism”.

Meanwhile, a letter published by nearly 160 Harvard faculty said the student signees of the original statement “can be seen as nothing less than condoning the mass murder of civilians based only on their nationality”.

Idan and Batia Ofer (Reuters)

Following the backlash, Ms Gay published a follow-up statement on Tuesday condemning the attacks and distancing herself and Harvard University leadership from the letter.

“As the events of recent days continue to reverberate, let there be no doubt that I condemn the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas. Such inhumanity is abhorrent, whatever one’s individual views of the origins of longstanding conflicts in the region,” she wrote.

“Let me also state, on this matter as on others, that while our students have the right to speak for themselves, no student group — not even 30 student groups — speaks for Harvard University or its leadership,” she added.

The letter also sparked an instant backlash on social media, with hedge fund CEO Bill Ackman leading calls for the names of the signatories to be released to the public.

In a post on X, Mr Ackman said that he had been approached by “a number of CEOs” asking for the names of the student organisations to ensure “none of us inadvertently hire any of their members”.

He argued the names should be released to the public because students “should not be able to hide behind a corporate shield when issuing statements supporting the actions of terrorists, who, we now learn, have beheaded babies, among other inconceivably despicable acts”.

Other executives, like the CEOs of Sweetgreen and MeUndies, voiced their support for the effort, with Jonathan Shokrian of MeUndies comparing the ideas in the original letter to a “cancer”.

On Wednesday, a truck appeared near the Harvard campus, circling the university and displaying photos of Harvard students and organisations allegedly linked to the original statement.

Student Sanaa M Kahloon, of the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee, told The Crimson the group’s overall message had been misinterpreted.

“To restate what should be obvious: the PSC staunchly opposes violence against civilians – Palestinian, Israeli, or other,” Ms Kahloon said.

On social media, the committee said it had been “flooded with racist hate speech and death threats,” forcing the group to postpone a planned vigil “intended to mourn all innocent lives lost”.

Meanwhile, some of those who condemned the original student letter also took issue with the tactics of its critics.

“Harvard Hillel strongly condemns any attempts to threaten and intimidate co-signatories of the Palestine Solidarity Committee’s statement, including the bus on campus displaying the names and faces of students affiliated with the groups who have signed it,” the Jewish organisation said in an online statement.

“We will continue to reject the PSC’s statement in the strongest terms — and demand accountability for those who signed it,” the statement continued. “But under no circumstances should that accountability extend to public intimidation of individuals.”

Mr Summers, the former Harvard president, also expressed his concern.

Harvard University (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

“I yield to no one in my revulsion at the statement apparently made on behalf of 30 plus @Harvard student groups,” he wrote on X on Wednesday. “But please everybody take a deep breath. Many in these groups never saw the statement before it went out. In some case those approving did not understand exactly what they were approving. Probably some were naive and foolish. This is not a time where it is constructive to vilify individuals and I am sorry that is happening.”

More than 1,300 Israelis and 1,500 Palestinians have been killed since fighting broke out on Saturday, with thousands more believed to be injured and the number of individuals taken hostage by Hamas currently unclear.

At least 27 American citizens are among the dead, the White House said on Thursday.

It comes after Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel early on Saturday morning, killing hundreds of people and taking dozens captive across the Gaza border.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately declared a state of war and promised “mighty vengeance” on Israel’s attackers.

On Monday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered the “complete siege” of Gaza, saying authorities would cut electricity and block the entry of food and fuel.

Four days later on Friday, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) ordered all Gaza civilians to leave the area and head southward – a task that the United Nations said is “impossible”.