A new national faculty audit claimed that over 50 percent of audited university faculty members and related program files in Jewish Studies, Israel Studies, Hebrew language, and Holocaust and Genocide Studies were associated with documented anti-Israel public positions.
The study was conducted by The Olam, an institutional intelligence platform for Israel and the global Jewish economy, and published in early August. According to the report, the research analyzed 2,499 faculty members and institutional entries across 313 American universities, cross-referencing names and program listings against nine documented public petition campaigns and organizational records spanning from May 2021 through the spring of 2026.
Introducing the scope of the project, Ronn Torossian, publisher of The Olam, told The Jerusalem Post that the audit represents “the largest audit ever undertaken of Jewish Studies and Israel Studies faculties in the United States,” and said the report reveals that “more than half the professors in America teaching about Judaism, the Hebrew language, the State of Israel, and the history of the Holocaust have publicly positioned themselves against the Jewish state.”
Audit finds anti-Israel positions among faculty records
The research alleged that 1,298 of the analyzed entries, or 51.9%, featured documented anti-Israel public positions as defined by the study’s criteria. Among individual educators specifically identified as teaching in the relevant fields of Jewish, Israel, Hebrew, or Holocaust studies, the audit claimed that 401 out of 1,014, or 39.5%, held such positions
It reported particularly high concentrations at Ivy League universities, where Torossian noted that “72.3 percent of audited faculty records have documented anti-Israel positions.”
To establish these metrics, the study classified an anti-Israel stance based on specific public actions, such as leadership roles in groups like Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FSJP) or Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), alongside signing petitions that endorsed academic boycotts, characterized Zionism as “settler colonialism,” labeled Israel an apartheid state, or defined its military actions as genocide.
The researchers noted that they deliberately excluded mainstream political criticisms – such as opposing specific government policies, advocating for a two-state solution, or demanding accountability for civilian casualties – that reflect ongoing debates within Israeli society itself.
“These professors are the people hired to teach the next generation about Judaism, the Hebrew language, the State of Israel, and the history of the Holocaust,” the report stated, arguing that the documented positions fell outside the consensus of mainstream Zionism.
Endowed chairs appear among petition signatories
The audit identified 14 holders of endowed chairs, positions funded by donors often intended to strengthen Jewish scholarship, who appeared among the signatories of these examined campaigns. Highlighting this aspect, Torossian pointed out that “14 endowed chairs – positions funded by Jewish philanthropists specifically to strengthen Jewish scholarship – are held by faculty openly opposed to Israel,” adding that donors established these funds to strengthen Jewish education. “Instead, many now fund scholars who describe Zionism as ‘settler colonialism,’ endorse academic boycotts of Israeli universities, and use language like ‘Jewish supremacy’ to describe the Jewish state.”
Beyond academic boycotts and political definitions, the evaluated petitions also encompassed broader advocacy, including protests against administrative discipline targeting pro-Palestinian organizers and pushback against the alleged weaponization of antisemitism claims
Furthermore, the report noted a significant escalation in petition activity. The March 2025 “Not in Our Name” letter, initiated by New England faculty and staff to protest campus crackdowns and the alleged weaponization of antisemitism claims, gathered over 3,400 academic signatures, becoming the largest single petition in the documented record.
How the faculty audit was conducted
The study’s methodology involved compiling rosters from publicly available university websites between July and August 2026, including every institutional member program of the Association for Jewish Studies and every US center or chair listed by the Association for Israel Studies. The researchers said that they matched faculty names to petition signatories using university affiliation, department, academic title, and full name.
They acknowledged limitations, noting that their audit captured only publicly available positions and did not account for faculty who may have held private views, nor did it capture Hebrew language instructors, who, they said, rarely signed political letters.
Addressing the implications of the data, Torossian said, “The question before Jewish families, donors, and institutional leaders is straightforward: Will we demand transparency about who teaches these subjects and what they publicly believe? Will endowments established to strengthen Jewish education actually accomplish that mission? The Olam created this study to answer these questions with data. The findings are now public. What institutions, families, and donors choose to do with this information is their decision.”