Jewish People Policy Institute Report, July 2025.

ISRAEL STUDIES AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES: IS THERE A PATH FORWARD?

Webinar Sunday July 6, 17:00 – 19:00 IST
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A new report released by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) paints an alarming picture of the collapse of Israel Studies at American universities, warning that the discipline is facing existential threats amid growing hostility, academic marginalization, and ideological bias. Titled “Israel Studies at American Universities: Is There a Path Forward?”, the report, authored by Dr. Sara Yael Hirschhorn, offers a sweeping analysis of the development, current crisis, and possible future of the field. The findings are both urgent and troubling: decades of academic effort are now at risk of being erased due to rising anti-Israel sentiment, institutional neglect, and the growing power of cancel culture on U.S. campuses. “This is more than a crisis of curriculum — it’s a crisis of intellectual freedom,” said Professor Yedidia Stern, President of JPPI. “Israel is being silenced in spaces that once welcomed open academic exploration. We cannot allow this erasure to continue unchecked.”

Full report available at: www.jppi.org.il

Sara Yael Hirschhorn is senior researcher at the Comper Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism and Racism at the University of Haifa and a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, Jerusalem