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Shai Davidai
Israeli activist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Shai Davidai (born 1983 or 1984) is an Israeli assistant professor of business at Columbia Business School[1] known for his outspoken advocacy for Israel and against the 2024 Columbia University pro-Palestinian campus occupations.[2][3] After the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel and subsequent Gaza war, Davidai's pro-Israel activity led him into conflict with Columbia University students, faculty, and administrators.[4] He was suspended from the university for alleged harassment of faculty.[5]
In 2025, Columbia student and pro-Palestine activist Mahmoud Khalil named Davidai as one of the two main individuals behind his arrest and detention.[6]
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Early life and education
Davidai is Jewish[7] and was born in Ramat Gan, Israel.[8] His father was born in Haifa and his mother in Givatayim;[8] they still live in Israel.[9] His grandfather, Benjamin, was vice president of El Al and assisted in capturing Adolf Eichmann.[9][10] Davidai grew up in Kiryat Ono.[9] He did not want to do his military service in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, so he signed up for the Israeli navy, where he served as a medic.[10]
Davidai earned a B.A. in psychology and cognitive science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2009.[1][11] After moving to the United States around 2009,[9] he earned a Ph.D. in social psychology and personality psychology from Cornell University in 2015.[1][11][12] Professor Thomas Gilovich was his Ph.D. advisor.[10]
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Career
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Davidai did a post-doctoral fellowship at the Princeton University School of Public and International Affairs in 2015-16.[11] His first faculty position was at The New School for Social Research, where he was assistant professor of psychology from 2016 to 2019.[11][9]
In 2019, Davidai joined the Columbia Business School faculty as assistant professor of business.[1][9] He studies how people's views on inequality, success, and failure affect their well-being.[13][1] His work has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and numerous social and experimental psychology journals.[14] His findings on FOMO, nepo babies, and perception of income inequality have been featured in The New York Times,[15] Scientific American,[16] The Guardian,[17] and The New Yorker.[18]
Gaza war
After the October 7 attacks on Israel and subsequent Gaza war, protests erupted at numerous educational institutions, including Columbia University. After a Columbia SJP leader and a faculty member called the attacks "an unprecedented historic moment" and "a stunning victory", Davidai spoke at a candlelight vigil on campus.[19] He approached the Columbia Business School dean, met with the university president,[12] and called on the school administration to condemn Hamas.[12] Davidai gave a speech he called an "open letter to every parent in America", warning them about antisemitism at universities and criticizing university leadership for supporting pro-terror campus organizations.[19][9] He argued that KKK or ISIS supporters would not be allowed to demonstrate on campus.[19][20] He described his alarm at students' "hatred" of "the existence of Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people".[21] The same month, Tablet published an article by Davidai and his wife in which they wrote that they had lost friends due to their pro-Israel activism, despite their left-wing Israeli politics, including avoid purchasing items from the Israeli-occupied West Bank.[22][23][24]
On 22 April 2024, Davidai asked the Columbia University administration for police protection for a pro-Israel protest he had planned near the student encampment. They declined and told him to hold his event away from the encampment. When Davidai attempted to enter the main Columbia campus later that day, an administrator denied him access, and he discovered that his ID card had been deactivated.[10][25][26] In a speech to the group of protesters that had come with him, he stated that it was his right as a Jewish person and as a professor to access the campus.[10][25] He later tweeted: "This is 1938", comparing the incident to laws banning Jewish professors in Nazi Germany.[25][10] A month later, Davidai reported that he had regained access to the campus.[27]
A petition alleging that he harassed pro-Palestinian students on social media and calling for his termination obtained over 10,000 signatures.[28][29][30] According to university president Minouche Shafik, over 50 complaints were lodged against Davidai, and he was investigated for harassment.[31][32][33] Davidai denied targeting any individual students and said he focused on student organizations that support terrorism.[33][34][32] He added that he was receiving death threats and other harassment.[10][35] Davidai called for the National Guard to respond to student protests.[10][36][37]
According to Columbia, Davidai repeatedly harassed university employees, so he was temporarily suspended from Columbia's campus in October 2024. Subsequently, he published a video of himself following and questioning a university administrator about the university's response to pro-Palestinian protests on campus that day.[4][38][5] Columbia said Davidai threatened and intimidated the university's chief operating officer, Cas Holloway, violating university policies.[4] Over 400 university professors, students, parents, alumni, and staff signed a letter to interim university president Katrina Armstrong calling Davidai's suspension "egregious".[39]
In December 2024, when a Jewish student alleged he was punched in the face at a Barnard pro-Palestinian protest, Davidai argued that the university's inadequate response to campus protests had promoted the conditions leading to the violence.[40] The following month, Davidai attributed the 2025 New Orleans truck attack to universities' inadequate response to protests organized by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).[41]
In February 2025, Davidai asked Betar US to leave a protest he had organized. Since then, Davidai and Betar have publicly criticized each other.[23][42][43] Betar has criticized part of a Tablet article which they interpret as Davidai supporting boycotting Israel.[42][23] Davidai has called Betar "a group of violence-loving thugs".[23]
In March, Davidai posted a message to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on X calling for the deportation of Palestinian student protester Mahmoud Khalil.[44] Khalil was detained by ICE a few days later.[45][46] Davidai supported the arrest[47] but expressed concern that Khalil would not receive a fair trial.[46][48]
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Political views
Davidai opposes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, supports a two-state solution, and avoids buying items made in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.[23][24][10] He participated in the 2023 Israeli judicial reform protests in Tel Aviv, during which he was punched in the face.[10][49] Thomas Gilovich has called him a "peacenik".[10] He considers himself pro-Israel, pro-Palestinian, anti-terror,[19] and a liberal leftist.[24] [10] He has been critical of Columbia University's response to pro-Palestinian campus occupations and antisemitism on its campus.[50][51] His videos include warnings against the dangers of hate speech.[52] He interprets "from the river to the sea" and "globalize the intifada" as calls for violence against Israelis and Jews.[22] He has noted that student organizations have condemned "Zionists" on campus.[22]
See also
References
External links
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