Israeli professor resigns from Columbia, cites ‘anti-Jewish hatred’ on campus

An Israeli professor has resigned from Columbia University, citing years of alleged anti-Semitism tolerated by the institution.

The professor, Shai Davidai, was an assistant professor at Columbia Business School and an outspoken supporter of Israel. In a statement provided to Campus Reform, Davidai explained that he resigned from Columbia due to its anti-Semitism response.

“I have decided to leave Columbia because I feel like its leadership is unwilling to take the real, necessary steps to fight against the anti-Jewish, anti-Israeli, and anti-American hatred on campus,” Davidai stated.

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“The combination of a failed leadership, a small but morally corrupt group of radical faculty, and a silent, indifferent majority have led me to lose all respect for the institution,” the professor added. “Right now, I would rather not have a job than work at Columbia.”

Davidai had recently been cleared of wrong-doing by the Columbia administration after being suspended last year, according to The Times of Israel.

“Assistant Professor of Business Shai Davidai has decided to depart Columbia, effective July 8, 2025,” a Columbia University spokesperson told Campus Reform. “The University thanks him for his service and wishes him the best in his future endeavors.”

Campus Reform reported last year that Columbia temporarily suspended Davidai due to his response to a pro-Palestine protest on the anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks against Israel.

“I’m the only professor who’s been suspended,” Davidai said after his suspension. “Think about all the professors, everything that they’ve done. You know, people that have said and posted horrible things, and yet I’m the only one suspended.”

One professor at Columbia, Joseph Massad, wrote an article praising the massacre on Oct. 7 without being suspended.

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In his Oct. 8. 2023 article, Massad applauded Hamas terrorists’ “takeover of several Israeli settler-colonies,” and described their “major achievement” as delivering “the death blow to any confidence that Israeli colonists had in their military and its ability to protect them.” 

Campus Reform has reported about other alleged incidents of anti-Semitism at Columbia, including one student activist, Mohsen Mahdawi, being accused of saying he used guns to “kill Jews while he was in Palestine.”

In a 2024 poll, 62% of Jewish students stated they “did not feel accepted for their religious identities at Columbia,” with just 34 percent of Jewish Columbia students reporting “positive sentiments of belonging.”