Columbia University bars pro-Israel professor from campus for ‘threatening behavior’

Columbia University assistant professor of business and pro-Israel advocate Shai Davidai was barred from campus Tuesday.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the university confirmed Davidai was suspended, saying he had “repeatedly harassed and intimidated” university employees.

The statement said Davidai’s restrictions were a “direct result of Assistant Professor Davidai’s conduct on October 7, 2024,” though it did not elaborate on the incident in question. 

Davidai blasted the decision, claiming it was in retaliation for “expos[ing]” university employees on video at Oct. 7 anniversary protests on campus.

Business Assistant Professor Shai Davidai has frequently criticized university leadership over their response to anti-Israel demonstrations. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

“[T]he University has decided to not allow me to be on campus anymore. My job. Why? Because of Oct. 7. Because I was not afraid to stand up to the hateful mob,” Davidai said, according to the Columbia Daily Spectator. He recorded himself confronting administrators. 

“Columbia has consistently and continually respected Assistant Professor Davidai’s right to free speech and to express his views. His freedom of speech has not been limited and is not being limited now. Columbia, however, does not tolerate threats of intimidation, harassment, or other threatening behavior by its employees,” University spokesperson Samantha Slater said.

She continued, “Because Assistant Professor Davidai repeatedly harassed and intimidated University employees in violation of University policy, we have temporarily limited his access to campus while he undertakes appropriate training on our policies governing the behavior of our employees.” 

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Slater added Davidai is currently not teaching this semester and is only barred from access to the campus. He has not been suspended from his position, and he will still receive his compensation as a faculty member. Davidai can return to campus after completing training on university policies.

“Education, training, access restrictions and other measures are available and used by the University when faculty and other employees violate University policy. As in other cases, our expectation is that Assistant Professor Davidai will successfully complete the training and promptly return to campus,” Slater said.

Davidai reported on this suspension from his X account Tuesday. (Courtesy of Shai Davidai)

“I’m the only professor who’s been suspended,” he told The Spectator. “Think about all the professors, everything that they’ve done. You know, people that have said and posted horrible things, and yet I’m the only one suspended.”

“It’s no longer a double standard,” Davidai added. “There’s basically no standard for when it comes to Jewish life on campus.

Davidai also wrote on X after learning the news, “I don’t care about my future. It’s never been about me. I care about @Columbia’s future. I care about what this acceptance of anti-Jewish, anti-Israeli, and anti-American terrorism means for the students on campus. Please retweet this so people will know.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to Davidai for comment.

Columbia University also reportedly deactivated Davidai’s keycard in April. (Fox News Digital)

This was not the first time Davidai has reportedly been restricted on campus. In April, he said his keycard to the school’s main campus was deactivated after planning a pro-Israel demonstration against anti-Israel protesters.

“I have, not just a civil right, a civil right as a Jewish person to be on campus. I have a right as a professor employed by the university to be on campus. They deactivated my card,” Davidai told demonstrators in a video at the time.

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