DEI Officers Promote Anti-Israel Bias in Campus Culture, Study Finds

New research spotlights concerns over rising antisemitism linked to diversity offices at U.S. universities.

A growing climate of hostility toward Israel—and, increasingly, toward Jewish students—has become entrenched in many American universities, with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) staff at the center of the controversy. A new study from the Heritage Foundation has found that DEI officials across the country routinely single out Israel for criticism while largely avoiding condemnation of human rights abuses in countries like China.

The study revealed that social media posts from DEI administrators criticize Israel at three times the rate of China, with nearly every Israel-related post expressing negative sentiment. By contrast, roughly two-thirds of posts about China conveyed praise.

The implications of this are alarming, especially for Jewish students. According to recent polling, 65 percent of students involved in Jewish campus organizations say they feel unsafe due to threats or harassment. Half admit to hiding their Jewish identity or pro-Israel beliefs out of fear for their safety.

This is not merely a social media phenomenon. The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law has filed formal complaints—like the one at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign—documenting criminal acts such as thefts targeting Jewish students, vandalism, and other antisemitic incidents. The center argues that universities are failing in both legal and moral duties to protect students.

The ideological environment appears to be deeply entrenched. On many campuses, critics argue, a radical worldview frames Jews as part of a privileged class, aligning them with systemic oppression. Under this narrative, Jewish identity and support for Israel are seen not as expressions of heritage but as political threats.

This perspective is reinforced, the study says, by far-left faculty and the DEI apparatus. On these campuses, “far-left professors are the priests and DEI officers are the choir,” the authors assert, emphasizing the institutional nature of the issue.

Antisemitism, they argue, has been normalized—disguised as political criticism of Zionism or Israel’s policies. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the stakes clear when he stated: “Let me go on the record… anti-Zionism is antisemitism.”

Internationally, Jewish students in Europe report similar patterns of exclusion and fear. From Berlin to Berkeley, the message many receive is clear: suppress your connection to Israel or your Jewish identity if you want to be left alone.

To push back, the study calls for concrete steps. First, it urges universities to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism. This framework, endorsed by over 35 countries and hundreds of institutions, helps identify both classical and modern expressions of antisemitism.

Second, the report recommends slashing the number of DEI personnel, arguing that they now vastly outnumber staff responsible for supporting students with disabilities. At the University of Michigan, for instance, there are 163 DEI officers, and across the universities studied, DEI employees outnumber ADA staff by a ratio of 4.2 to 1.

Third, the study advocates for more ideological diversity in faculty hiring and curriculum development. Programs—particularly in Middle Eastern Studies—often promote one-sided narratives that vilify the U.S. and Israel, it says.

Fourth, universities are encouraged to elevate Jewish contributions to American society. Although May is officially Jewish American Heritage Month, there is little educational programming or public engagement around it, especially when compared to other cultural heritage months.

The long-term consequences, the study warns, go beyond academia. A British Member of Parliament who left the Labour Party due to its antisemitic culture told one of the study’s authors that the problem began at universities and was ignored until it engulfed national politics. “Finally,” said the MP, “they won; we lost, and I no longer have a political party.”

For the Heritage Foundation and others raising alarms, the message is urgent: universities must act now—or risk institutionalizing antisemitism for generations.