HKS Dean Visits West Bank and Israel To Recruit Students, Repair Alumni Relationships

Harvard Kennedy School Dean Jeremy M. Weinstein visited Israel and the West Bank over winter break to recruit Israeli and Palestinian students and re-establish a relationship with Palestinian alumni.

Attendees said Weinstein visited the West Bank primarily to hear the concerns of Palestinian alumni and how a better environment can be created for Palestinians within the school.

The school has historically struggled to recruit Palestinian students, enrolling just one in the 2024-25 academic year.

The trip to the West Bank city of Rawabi was part of a larger world tour for Weinstein, who also visited Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Singapore, and Hong Kong over the winter. Kennedy School professor Tarek E. Masoud joined Weinstein in the Middle East. The HKS dean traveled to Asia with Rana Mitter, a professor of U.S.-Asia relations at the school.

HKS Spokesperson Daniel B. Harsha wrote in a statement confirming Weinstein’s plans that the dean “made it a priority to visit Israel and the West Bank to meet with HKS alumni, donors, and other key stakeholders — and convey the importance of recruiting and welcoming both Israeli and Palestinian students to campus.”

“The trip was an opportunity for the Dean to hear directly from these groups about their experiences at HKS and the important work they are doing at home and abroad,” Harsha added.

While visiting the West Bank, Weinstein organized a 90-minute meeting with a handful of Palestinian HKS alumni at offices in Rawabi, a newly-constructed Palestinian city. According to people in attendance, the event was primarily a listening session for the dean, who heard from the alumni from Palestine about their experience at the school.

Marwan Durzi, a representative for Harvard Alumni in Palestine who attended the meeting, said it was a “very nice and frank” conversation with the dean.

“He looks at all the students in one eye, and I think he recognizes the importance of diversity and the importance of HKS working actively on these fronts,” he added.

The small group of alumni told Weinstein that efforts to increase open dialogue — spearheaded by the Candid and Constructive Conversations task force established by former HKS Dean Douglas W. Elmendorf — would not make a difference until Palestinians are better represented, according to one attendee.

While Weinstein also visited Israel, he did not meet with members of the Harvard Club of Israel.

Sagi Melamed, the president of the Harvard Club of Israel, said he learned about the trip only after Weinstein left the country.

But Melamed said HKS was making efforts to increase recruitment in Israel after the Wexner Foundation, which annually funded year-long masters programs for 10 Israeli public officials at HKS, withdrew funding in October 2023 over anger at former Harvard President Claudine Gay’s response to Hamas’ attack earlier that month.

Harsha, a HKS spokesperson, declined to share specifics about the dean’s meetings in Israel, but wrote in a statement that Weinstein “met with a wide range of Israeli stakeholders, donors, and alumni.”

And despite the suspension of the Wexner Program, the number of Israeli students at HKS has remained relatively stable, according to a source familiar with enrollment.

“We are continuing to identify resources to help support scholarships for students from Israel previously funded by the Wexner Program,” Harsha said.

At the meeting in Rawabi, Durzi said he told Weinstein that HKS should provide similar financial support for prospective Palestinian students.

“HKS actively worked on providing new financial resources for Israeli students,” he said. “This is something that we noted to the dean — if HKS wants to provide and avail financial resources, they can do it.”

It is unclear whether scholarship funding will be available for the following year after Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 instructed schools to “scrutinize discretionary and non-salary spending” in light of Trump administration funding cuts.

In an interview with The Crimson, the Palestinian HKS student — who insisted on anonymity because of immigration concerns — said they were “cautiously hopeful” about the Dean’s commitment to building a relationship with the Palestinian cohort. They did not attend the Rawabi event, but described it as “one positive step.”

Durzi, who has been involved as a graduate since 2012, said Weinstein is the only HKS dean who has met with Palestinian alumni.

Two alumni who met with Weinstein in Rawabi, including Durzi, described the January meeting as a good faith effort to reset the relationship, citing a rocky history with Elmendorf.

In January 2023, then-Dean Elmendorf made headlines for allegedly blocking Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch, from a fellowship position at the Carr Center for Human Rights. After hundreds of Harvard affiliates called on the dean to resign, Elmendorf reversed course.

Durzi also referenced an April 2023 open letter from the HKS Palestinian Alumni Collective, which called for an investigation into HKS over a “hostile environment” and alleged a pattern of “institutionalized anti-Palestinian discrimination” and “disdain” under Elmendorf.

The letter also claimed that Elmendorf consistently suppressed Palestinian voices on campus — blocking campus speaker events planned by Palestinian alumni and treating Palestinian students with “disdain.”

Harsha pushed back against the allegations, writing that students “regularly host events at HKS related to Palestinian and Israeli issues and concerns, and they have the full support of the school when they do so.”

Since taking office in July, Weinstein has attempted to chart a different course by extending its outreach program for the region to prospective Palestinian students.

The recruitment, however, initially combined information sessions for Israel and Palestinian students. Instead of hiring an additional recruitment officer, HKS administration expanded the role of the admissions representative for Israel to include Palestine.

And in November, they organized an in-person information session for prospective Israeli and Palestinian students in East Jerusalem — an area that students from many parts of Palestine, including the West Bank and Gaza, cannot access without special permits. The event was sponsored by local Israeli companies.

Durzi intervened to tell administrators the setting would deter rather than attract prospective students, calling on Weinstein to separate Israel and Palestinian recruitment. In response, a last-minute informational session was organized in Ramallah, according to Durzi.

In addition to in-person events, HKS has also held online information sessions for potential Palestinian and Israeli students, according to a source familiar with the school’s recruitment process.

Weinstein is not the first Harvard administrator to engage with Palestinian representatives. In March 2023, former Harvard President Lawrence S. Bacow visited the area, meeting with Durzi and other alumni.

Alumni from Palestine also organized a virtual meeting with former Harvard President Claudine Gay during her tenure, and met with Garber’s task forces on antisemitism and Islamophobia, according to Darzi.

At the January event in Rawabi, Darzi said Weinstein committed to additional meetings with the group — “a very positive gesture,” he said.

“So many people are affected by the media and stories, and few came over and visited the Middle East, so it’s very important to provide and share the Palestinian narrative,” Darzi added.

—Staff writer Elise A. Spenner can be reached at elise.spenner@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @EliseSpenner.