There are several things to know about what you’re about to read: 

1. I’m Jewish; many Jews like me oppose Israel’s murderous rampage in Gaza and are prominent at universities in opposing that. Like Canada’s Jewish Faculty Network.
2. I’m going to talk about Jewish mega-donors to universities and the influence that may or may not buy them.
3. While money doesn’t always buy influence, it often buys influence and more than that: it is the elephant in the room when we talk about the reaction at universities in North America to the issue of Israel and Palestine. That applies to  Canada’s major research-driven universities (the U-15).  That money often comes with an agenda.  

The role of Jewish mega-funders to American universities in quashing discourse on Israel-Palestine is by now pretty well known. I’ll come back to that.

I want to remind folks that this is a problem not just in the US but also in Canada..  A private donor at University of Toronto was able to use his influence to stop a faculty hire.  This donor used his background, his professional position, his donation and his contacts high up in the university to ensure an internationally recognized human rights scholar was not hired at the U of T Law School.  

Now I’m sure that there are non-Jewish mega-donors who are strong supporters of Israel who would, or have attempted to, use their influence to achieve similar aims. But there are also many Jewish mega-donors who are perversely motivated by what they consider their duty as Jews to embrace Zionism and not only to advocate privately for Israel but to use undue influence and bullying in public institutions to do so.

Pro-Israel supporters influence and bully in public institutions

To be sure, there are many, many Jewish opponents of Israel and many of them have been active in university encampments. Indeed, Prof. Annelise Orleck (65-year-old historian and former head of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College) was brutalized and arrested by police, and banned from that campus for supporting student protesters.

A Canadian case I want to discuss involves David A Spiro, a federal tax judge and an alumnus of U of T’s prestigious Faculty of Law.  He has donated between $25,000 and $100,000 to the university. Though that amount is not considered very substantial, his family gave a lot more.  Prior to being appointed a tax judge, Spiro had been a board member of CIJA (Centre for Israel Jewish Affairs). CIJA is Canada’s premiere pro-Israel lobby group. Its lobbying efforts reach all the way to Parliament— nearly one quarter of Canada’s sitting MPs have taken free trips, what I call  “junkets to genocide” courtesy of CIJA.  Read more about CIJA here, here and here . 

Dr Valentina Azarova applied for the position as Director of the International Human Rights Program (IHRP) at the Faculty of Law at U of T.  Azarova is an internationally known human rights scholar who, among other publications,  has produced work about human rights in Israel/Palestine and Palestinian refugees.   She is also Jewish.  

“Nice university you have here; it would be a shame if it lost some funding.”

In September 2020, a spokesperson for CIJA told Spiro that Azarova was an “anti-Israel academic crusader” and her hiring by the Law School was imminent.  Soon after, Judge Spiro, in speaking privately with a U of T Assistant Vice-President, said he opposed the hiring of Dr Valentina Azarova as Director of the International Human Rights Program (IHRP). Of course, Spiro worded it, not as a direct threat, but as a helpful piece of information, like a protection racket that tells its victim, “Nice university you have here; it would be a shame if it lost some funding.” Within days of Spiro’s intervention, the Faculty of Law rescinded its employment offer to Azarova.

The Law School faculty as well as many professors at the U of T and across Canada were outraged when the Law School dean stopped Azarova’s appointment.  It became a cause célèbre; CAUT (Canadian Association of University Teachers) censured the University of Toronto until the decision was reversed.  Dr Azarova was offered the job the following year but by then it was too late. Dr Azarova had received a clear message and was no longer interested in working at the University of Toronto.

The disciplinary committee of the Canadian Judicial Council reviewed what Judge Spiro had done and in May 2021, called his intervention a “serious error”.  But rather than removing him, in an unprecedented move, and one that to many did not make much sense, the Tax Court banned Muslim lawyers and litigants from appearing before him. Essentially Spiro got a lightest of timid slaps on the wrist.  

For comparison, let’s look at what has been going on currently at three US ivy-league universities. 

Pro-Israel influence in US-ivy league universities

In early January 2024, Harvard’s first Black president, Dr Claudine Gay, was forced to step down amidst a controversy over whether or not she was forceful enough with student groups who protested Israel’s genocide in Gaza in the wake of 7 Oct.  Harvard’s major donors  were angry that Gay didn’t come out against Hamas in absolute defence of Israel. The big donors included many wealthy Jewish and non-Jewish alumni.  Bill Ackman—whose net worth is more than $46 billion  is head of the giant hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management.  He had given  more than $25 million to Harvard.  In a number of posts on X (Twitter) Ackman demanded a list of any Harvard student organizations and their members who signed a letter suggesting that Israel’s policies and actions were responsible for  7 Oct.  Ackman demanded he and other CEOs needed the names of the students/organizations that signed the letter so donors’ companies did not “inadvertently hire any of their members”.  

Just after 7 Oct., Leslie Wexner, the billionaire founder and former CEO of Limited Brands, said he was ending his financial support for Harvard after decades.  Wexner had given more than $42 million to the Harvard Kennedy School, where there is a building named after him.  He insisted Harvard was “tiptoeing” over Hamas’ assault on Israel. 

Len Blavatnik, an Odessa-born commodities magnate who donated at least $270 million to Harvard, announced in December 2023 that he was putting future donations on hold until the university addressed what he called antisemitism on campus. 

“Given the use of Harvard’s name by Hamas-supporting student groups, it was a grave mistake not to condemn the hate messages more quickly and absolutely.” 

Lloyd Blankfein, former CEO of Goldman Sachs. A major donor to Harvard, Blankfein demanded president Claudine Gay’s resignation.

Other wealthy Harvard donors include Seth Klarman – his name is on more than one university building.  Lloyd Blankfein – former CEO of Goldman Sachs — also spoke publicly against President Gay because she didn’t expel the students.  Blankfein said, 

“Given the use of Harvard’s name by Hamas-supporting student groups, it was a grave mistake not to condemn the hate messages more quickly and absolutely.” 

And that is not all.  Dr Elizabeth Magill, President of the University of Pennsylvania was also forced to resign over her refusal to forcefully condemn student demonstrations against Israel’s genocide.

Marc Rowan, a billionaire and CEO of Apollo Global Management and the chair of the board of The  Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, called for Magill’s resignation and asked fellow donors to cut off funds.  Another major Penn donor, Jay Clayton, chairman of Apollo’s board, said he was furious that his alma mater hosted speakers who criticized Israel yet would not denounce the attack on Israel.  

A third university president – also a woman –Dr Sally Kornbluth at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)—also faced demands for her resignation for allowing students to protest Israel’s genocide on campus.  Bill Ackman orchestrated the campaign against Kornbluth when he posted on X “Et tu Sally?”  So far, she has remained in office. 

As Robert Reich, former US secretary of labor and professor of public policy at University of California at Berkeley noted,

“I can understand the frustrations of these donors. But to use their influence to force the ouster of these university presidents is an abuse of power. It sets a dangerous precedent of mega-donor intrusion into university life.”

Wealthy donors can shape the university

Boards of trustees at universities like Harvard, Pennsylvania and MIT are packed with wealthy donors. According to Reich, “They’re not supposed to have any say over the day-to-day operations of the universities they oversee, although they routinely veto candidates for university presidents harboring views they find offensive.”

This is what happened to Dr Azarova. 

Back in Canada, the University of Toronto publishes a list of donors in categories according to size of donation.  Donors who gave $25 million or more include Peter and Melanie Munk.  In 2010, the Munks established the prestigious Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at U of T with a “landmark gift”.   The Rotman family also donated more than $25 million; U of T’s Rotman School of Management is named after them.  

Below: University of Toronto, Faculty of Law (credit: Bernarda Gospic/The Varsity); Peter and Melanie Munk (credit: Barrick.com); David Feldman (credit: Camrost Felcorp); David Spiro (credit: Tax Court of Canda); David Asper (credit: Wikipedia).

U of T’s new David Feldman Centre for Real Estate — will it sanction research critical of the rich who helped create the housing crisis?

Two months ago, Toronto real estate mogul David Feldman and his family donated $15 million to the Rotman School of Management to create the David Feldman Centre for Real Estate and Urban Economics to “educate the next generation of real estate leaders,” according to U of T’s president Meric Gertler.  Feldman is the founder and CEO of Camrost Felcorp Inc a real estate company that has built more than 70 commercial  buildings, and 13,000 residential suites. In these times of astronomical house prices and sky high-rents, one wonders about the Centre’s commitment to critical research about homelessness and the housing crisis.

Circling back to the U of T Faculty of Law, David Asper donated $7.5 million to create the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights at U of T’s Faculty of Law. He is a trustee of his family’s Asper Foundation which also gives huge donations to about 20 institutions in Israel including the Asper Institute for New Media Diplomacy at Reichman University, Israel’s first private university.  The Asper Foundation also funds the Asper Centre for Zionist Education at the elite Shalem College in Israel; the centre  promises to “extend the influence of the ideas developed within our community to the wider Israeli public and Jews around the world.”  The Asper Foundation also supports the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem, “a living testament to a man of courage and vision.”  Oh? In 1982, standing in the Knesset, Begin called the Palestinians “beasts walking on two legs”  (see the New Statesman, June 25, 1982).   According to the Asper Foundation, Begin fought “the scourge of Arab terrorism,”  though Begin himself as a commander of the Irgun was labelled a terrorist. In 1946, the Irgun bombed the King David Hotel killing 91 people and two years later massacred 107 Palestinian villagers at Deir Yassin.

The problem for universities is this

By accepting huge donations from businessmen, investors and the wealthy and heavily relying on the donors in future, universities set themselves up for following political agendas.  This wasn’t  always the case, according to US former secretary of labor Robert Reich, 

“Yet not until now have major donors so brazenly used their financial influence to hound presidents out of office for failing to come out as clearly as the donors would like on an issue of campus speech or expression.

“As a Jew, I also cannot help but worry that the actions of these donors – many of them Jewish, many from Wall Street – could fuel the very antisemitism they claim to oppose, based on the age-old stereotype of wealthy Jewish bankers controlling the world.” 

I’d say amen to that. 

Image at the top: Pink Elephant (credit: Boadicea)