After crushing dissent, U.S. universities are deepening ties with Israeli academia

Israeli and U.S. flags seen on MIT's campus during the university protests, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, May 4, 2024. (Peaceearth/Wikimedia Commons)

Aug. 11, 2025 - At the end of July, Harvard signaled its willingness to spend as much as half a billion dollars to settle accusations of antisemitism brought by the Trump administration. While the scandal — and the staggering sum — has drawn widespread attention, a previous concession slipped under the radar: in a failed bid to placate the administration earlier this year, Harvard agreed to establish a formal partnership with an Israeli university.

In December, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) launched a program that will allow scholars at Israel’s nine public, state-accredited universities to come to MIT for collaboration and training. In March, Clemson College in South Carolina announced a partnership with Hebrew University and Sapir College to bring new agricultural technologies to Israel’s western Negev region, and Columbia University committed to expanding its academic initiatives with Tel Aviv University. And in May, the University of Utah signed an “academic cooperation” deal with Ariel University — an Israeli institution located in an illegal West Bank settlement.

Members of Harvard PSC pose for a protest photo on campus. (Courtesy of Harvard PSC)

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