Outspoken pro-Israel professor at Columbia University steps down

An Israeli professor at Columbia University in New York who flagged pro-Palestine protester Mahmoud Khalil to US immigration authorities has left the institution after an investigation against him was closed.

Shai Davidai, an assistant professor in the business school, became a prominent on-campus advocate for Israel and Jewish students at Columbia, following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.

The Columbia Spectator quoted a university representative as saying that Mr Davidai had “chosen, by mutual agreement with the University, to not return to teaching”.

He confirmed to The Times of Israel that he left Columbia voluntarily. “I’ve lost all trust in the institution and respect for my colleagues,” he said.

Columbia and other universities across the US last year were the sites of protests against the war in Gaza. Demonstrators demanded an end to the war and their universities' divestment from Israel and Israeli companies. Mr Davidai was an outspoken critic of the protests, describing them as anti-Semitic and saying that participants were disseminating Hamas propaganda.

In March of this year, Mr Davidai shared a post on X that identified Mr Khalil, a Palestinian former Columbia student and legal resident of the US, as one of the demonstrators who had taken over a building on campus in protest against the university's ties to Israel. He tagged US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the post and urged him to take “strong action”.

Days later, Mr Khalil was detained by immigration authorities and taken to a detention facility in Louisiana. He was told that his green card had been revoked. A judge released him on bail last month but his deportation case is still pending.

Mr Davidai's departure comes after the closure of a university investigation against him into claims of harassment. He was barred from campus in October 2023 following a memorial for those killed in the Hamas attacks in Israel, after videos he posted online showed him confronting a university official.

He told Jewish News that Columbia had known “from the start” that he had not committed harassment. “This baseless case was sparked by a co-ordinated smear campaign from Students for Justice in Palestine, and Columbia seized the opportunity to try to silence me,” he said.