The study defines anti-Israel public signals as signing petitions that describe Israel as a settler-colonial state, support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, accuse Israel of genocide, call for an end to US military funding, or back academic boycotts of Israeli universities.
The highest concentration was found at Ivy League universities, where 240 of 332 audited records (72.3 per cent) met the study's criteria.
It states that every Ivy League institution had multiple faculty members identified, with Columbia University recording the highest number at 41, followed by Princeton with 35, Yale with 30 and Brown with 27.
Researchers also identified 14 holders of endowed academic chairs among the signatories.
The study argues that these positions were established through donations intended to strengthen Jewish scholarship, making their inclusion particularly significant.
The report says petition activity has increased steadily since 2021 and, according to the researchers, each successive campaign has drawn more support than the last.
The largest petition recorded in the study is the March 2025 “Not in Our Name” letter, which calls on university leaders across the country to resist federal actions targeting pro-Palestinian organising on college campuses, and was signed by more than 3,400 Jewish staff and students.
Students participate in a pro-Palestine protest outside Columbia University in New York, November 15, 2023 (Getty Images)Getty Images
The authors stress that the study does not classify support for a two-state solution, criticism of Israeli government policies, opposition to settlement expansion or calls for accountability over civilian casualties as anti-Israel positions.
Under the Anticipated Criticism segment of the report, the authors note that signing a petition does not necessarily reflect what is taught in the classroom, and that faculty have academic freedom to hold and express their views.
However, the purpose of the report is “not whether faculty have a right to their views. It is whether Jewish families, donors, and communal organisations have access to information about what the faculty who teach their children about Judaism are saying publicly about Israel.”
The full study – including methodology, institutional analysis, endowed chair audit, petition ecosystem, and accompanying 2,499-record database – is available at olam.business.
