Columbia University’s Tel Aviv Plans Draw Strong Faculty Rebuke

Columbia University’s plan to open a new center in Tel Aviv is drawing criticism from close to 100 faculty members who say the university should reconsider the move because of Israel’s human rights record and ongoing political crisis. Plans to open the center, which were announced on Monday, had been an open secret on campus, but they attracted renewed criticism after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel won re-election this fall with the help of far-right political allies. He has since pushed forward judicial reforms that have deeply divided Israel, even as he faces trial for corruption.