University of Washington returns donation in Israel criticism row

The University of Washington has surrendered nearly the half the funding for its five-year-old Israel studies programme after its leader angered a major donor by sympathising with both sides in the Palestinian conflict.

The programme chair, Liora Halperin, associate professor of history at the Seattle campus, was among more than 200 academics who signed an open letter last year that faulted Israeli actions against Palestinians but also acknowledged “pain, fear and anger” among Israeli Jews and called for a political solution that protects legitimate concerns on all sides.

The criticism of Israel, however, was too much for Becky Benaroya, the matriarch of a major Seattle-area development company, who asked to pull back the $5 million (£3.7 million) gift that Washington used to create the Israel studies programme in 2016.

University of Washington leaders spent several months discussing the matter with Ms Benaroya before concluding “that returning the gift was the best path forward”, said a university spokesman.

“The return of the original $5 million gift was, in our view, the best way to protect academic freedom and to ensure that the Israel studies programme would continue to thrive at our university and within our community,” the spokesman said.

That decision has nevertheless generated its own protests. More than 700 scholars of Jewish and Israel studies, mostly based in North America, signed a letter accusing the University of Washington of needlessly capitulating.

“A far wiser tack would have been for the university to uphold the principle of free speech and make clear to its donors that the goal of an Israel studies programme is not to defend the state of Israel or give it a good name,” the protesters said.

In a statement distributed on a blog of the American Association of University Professors, Dr Halperin said that the terms of the gift by Ms Benaroya created no obligation for the university to pay it back.

Donor influence has been a longstanding and growing concern in higher education, with the politics of Israel a frequent flashpoint. Major recent examples include the University of Toronto rescinding a job offer to Valentina Azarova, a scholar and human rights lawyer critical of Israel; Harvard University philosopher and activist Cornel West blaming Israeli investors for his departure from the Ivy League institution; and various US campus debates over boycotting Israel and its universities.

The University of Washington said it drew the line after Ms Benaroya asked to make several changes to her donor agreement, including the addition of terms that would prohibit the institution from “political statements or signing agreements hostile to Israel” and requiring them to teach about “Israel, not Israel/Palestine”.

“The UW would not agree to these amendments,” the university spokesman said. “Further good-faith discussions did not lead to a resolution.”

The 700 Jewish and Israel studies scholars said in their protest letter that the loss of the $5 million was accompanied by Dr Halperin losing her endowed chair in Israel studies. The university, however, said that Dr Halperin remains in her post as chair of the Israel studies programme.

She is losing the name of the Benaroya family endowed chair, but the university regards her as remaining in an endowed chair, and is providing her $20,000 per year for three years in discretionary funding to support her work, the spokesman said. The Israel studies programme also still has $6 million in its endowment, after the loss of the $5 million from Ms Benaroya, he added.

paul.basken@timeshighereducation.com