Pro-Israel professor Shai Davidai leaves Columbia University after suspension over 'harassment'

Shai Davidai, a non-tenured assistant professor at Columbia Business School whose aggressive pro-Israel activism and reported harassment of pro-Palestinian students made him a target of outrage and criticism, has left the university.

Columbia Business School Dean Costis Maglaras confirmed Davidai’s departure in an email to faculty on Wednesday, stating that he officially exited on Tuesday. A university spokesperson issued a generic farewell, thanking him for his service and wishing him well.

Davidai announced his departure by posting a letter from Columbia's Office of Institutional Equity, claiming the university had closed its investigation into harassment allegations against him.

However, the Israeli-born academic had already been suspended in February 2024, after repeated accusations that he harassed and intimidated university employees and targeted pro-Palestinian students.

Despite his claims that he was only engaging in "free speech", Columbia said the suspension was in response to "threats of intimidation and harassment", not an attempt to limit expression.

The university restricted his access to campus and placed him on leave following reports of increasingly hostile conduct.

Davidai’s behaviour drew widespread concern on campus. The Israeli-born academic, who joined Columbia in 2019, became notorious for his public confrontations with students and staff.

He was filmed berating Columbia COO Cas Holloway and comparing university leadership to Nazi officials.

In one now-viral video, he threatened Holloway directly: "Cas, this message is for you. I’m not going anywhere, and you? You can go f**k yourself until we meet at court."

In April, Columbia disabled his campus access card after further complaints of aggressive behaviour and online harassment. He was reportedly assigned office space off-campus and ordered to undergo employee conduct training.

Davidai's campaign extended beyond Columbia’s campus. Students Mohsen Mahdawi and Mahmoud Khalil, who was later detained without charge by US authorities before being released, said he had targeted them online and advocated for their deportation.

According to The Intercept, he was also part of a WhatsApp group involving alumni and faculty, where members discussed ways to pressure US immigration authorities to remove pro-Palestinian students from the country.