New report from the Jewish People Policy Institute highlights the existential threats facing Israel Studies in American universities, citing rising anti-Israel sentiment, academic marginalization, and ideological bias.
A major new report released by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) paints an alarming picture of the collapse of Israel Studies in American universities, warning that the discipline is facing existential threats amid growing hostility, academic marginalization, and ideological bias.
Titled “Israel Studies in American Universities: Do They Have a Future?”, the report, authored by Dr. Sara Yael Hirschhorn, offers a sweeping analysis of the development, current crisis, and possible future of the field. The findings are both urgent and troubling: Decades of academic effort are now at risk of being erased due to rising anti-Israel sentiment, institutional neglect, and the growing power of cancel culture on US campuses.
“This is more than a crisis of curriculum — it’s a crisis of intellectual freedom,” said Professor Yedidia Stern, President of JPPI. “Israel is being silenced in spaces that once welcomed open academic exploration. We cannot allow this erasure to continue unchecked.”
The report tracks how Israel Studies — once a promising interdisciplinary field — is increasingly marginalized by frameworks such as ethnic studies and DEI policies, where Jews and Israelis are often cast as oppressors, and Zionism is misrepresented as a purely colonial project. Professors and students interested in teaching or researching Israel now face threats, exclusion, or accusations of political bias.
The study warns of a dramatic decline in university programs, donor support dilemmas, and a chilling effect on academic inquiry. It also raises the red flag over the influence of foreign authoritarian regimes funding anti-Israel discourse under the guise of scholarship.
But the report is not merely a lament — it is a call to action.
JPPI offers a detailed roadmap to revitalize the field, including expanding Israel education beyond traditional universities, engaging with think tanks and policy institutes, and developing new pedagogical models to reach diverse audiences. Among its most urgent recommendations: decoupling Israel Studies from politicized campus environments and building academic frameworks that embrace complexity, diversity of thought, and rigorous scholarship.
“Israel Studies can still be saved — but only if we act now,” said Dr. Hirschhorn. “This is a moment of truth for Jewish identity, academic freedom, and intellectual pluralism.”
The JPPI urges policymakers, educators, donors, and Jewish communal leaders to treat the findings of this report as a wake-up call. The future of Israel Studies — and of honest conversation about Israel in academia — depends on it.
