Harvard Israel Initiative Relaunches in Response to Campus Antisemitism

The Harvard Israel Initiative, an affiliate organization of Harvard Hillel, will resume its operations this semester following over one year of inactivity.

The revival is a direct result of increased anti-Israeli sentiment on campus in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and a year of pro-Palestine and pro-Israel demonstrations on campus, according to the organization’s new leaders.

The HII retained their active status under Hillel during the past year, but was “functionally defunct, like it wasn’t actually doing anything,” said Charles M. Covit ’27, the new president of HII and a Crimson Editorial editor. “No one was running it, so I think that’s for at least the last year or two.”

“It existed in name, but not in practice,” Covit added.

The relaunched HII aims to promote “a wide variety of programs relating to political, social, religious, and cultural aspects of Israel,” according to the Harvard Hillel website.

“Our commitment is for students to pursue and achieve the full expression of Jewish life and potential here at Harvard,” Rabbi Jason Rubenstein, the Executive Director of Harvard Hillel, wrote in a statement to The Crimson. “Engagement with, education surrounding, and celebration of Israel are an essential part of the Jewish people’s story.”

Leaders of HII, an undergraduate student group, said the desire to revive the organization grew out of a politically charged campus climate in the aftermath of pro-Israel and pro-Palestine demonstrations last year, including a 20-day pro-Palestine encampment in Harvard Yard in the spring.

HII’s relaunch “was a product of everything that happened last year, starting with Oct. 7, and then the protests on campus,” Covit said. “The purpose of this is really just to have an outlet for showing people that we exist and care about this issue,” he said.

The U.S. Department of Education also investigated Harvard for alleged antisemitic harassment on campus, which ended in July following a lawsuit filed in federal court in January with the same claims.

In January, Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 announced the launch of dual task forces aimed at combating antisemitism and anti-Arab bias on campus.

“I often heard students say that they literally didn’t know that there were Zionist, pro-Israel students in kind of significant numbers on campus,” Covit said.

Covit said that he wants the organization to be “reactive and also sort of proactive,” being ready to respond to “incidents of antisemitism, anti-Zionism, whatever it is.”

According to past members, these goals are in line with the mission HII held before it went dormant.

“The main purpose, I believe, was to respond in a targeted way to campus-specific events that related to Israel,” said Natalie L. Kahn ’23, a former member of HII. “We would be willing to say things sometimes, or take stances on things where Hillel might not want to issue some kind of statement.”

“There were a lot of systemic issues when it came to the University having a double standard when it came to people who would say things that were anti-Israel or antisemitic,” added Kahn, a former Crimson News editor. “I would imagine that it’s more pervasive now.”

HII previously organized speaker events in collaboration with Harvard Hillel, a tradition new leaders hope to bring back.

“We would try to bring speakers from a range of perspectives on the conflict,” Kahn said. “Obviously, all still pro-Israel, believing in the existence of a Jewish state.”

Some students involved in Harvard Hillel said they are looking forward to the revival of the HII.

“I like, especially after last year, that Harvard’s taking more initiative to bring the communities back together,” said Josie S. Whelan ’28. “I think this is really good for the Jewish community.”

—Staff writer Hiral M. Chavre can be reached at hiral.chavre@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Samuel A. Church can be reached at samuel.church@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @samuelachurch.