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BDS Could Cost Universities Billions of Dollars, New ADL Report Says
Signs cover the fence at a pro-Palestinian encampment at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. on April 28, 2024. Photo: Max Herman via Reuters Connect.
Colleges and universities will lose tens of billions of dollars collectively from their endowments if they capitulate to demands to divest from Israel and companies that do business with it, according to a new report released on Thursday by JLens, a Jewish investor network that is part of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
Titled “The Impact of Israel Divestment on Equity Portfolios: Forecasting BDS’s Financial Toll on University Endowments,” the report presents the potential financial impact of universities adopting the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel from the international community as a step toward its eventual elimination.
The ADL describes its report as “the first of its kind” to measure the havoc BDS would wreak on university endowments, the core of a higher education institution’s financial health, by quantifying the returns for investment portfolios purged of Israel-linked companies.
“Our research demonstrates that university endowments that divest from Israel could face significant financial consequences,” JLens managing director Ari Hoffnung said in a statement. “Lower investment returns could compromise a university’s ability to provide scholarships, fund research, and invest in campus facilities.”
The numbers are harrowing. Adopting BDS, according to the report, would incinerate $33.21 billion of future returns for the 100 largest university endowments over the next 10 years, with Harvard University losing $2.5 billion and the University of Texas losing $2.2 billion. Other schools would forfeit over $1 billion, including the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, and Princeton University. For others, such as the University of Michigan and Dartmouth College, the damages would total in the hundreds of millions.
“This groundbreaking report approached the morally problematic BDS movement from an entirely new direction — its negative impact on portfolio returns,” New York University adjunct professor Michael Lustig said in a statement extolling the report. “JLens has done a great job in quantifying the financial effects of implementing the suggestions of this pernicious movement, and importantly, they ‘show their work’ by providing full transparency into their methodology, and properly caveat the points where assumptions must necessarily be made. This report will prove to be an important tool in helping to fight noxious BDS advocacy.”
The report adds that BDS proponents are capricious, making them unreliable investment advisers. They will add a company to the BDS “target list” for appearing to do business with Israel or Israeli companies and then fail to remove it even after the business ends. For example, JLens notes that BDS continues to name Microsoft as a “target” four years after it sold its stake in the Israeli software company AllVision. BDS proponents also offer conflicting reasons for divestment, with some limiting their grievance to the sale of weapons to the Israeli military and others aiming to halt any and all economic activity with Israel. Despite these inconsistencies, BDS proponents claim to speak with a unified voice.
“Additionally, the landscape of companies doing business in Israel is vast and ever-changing, making it challenging to compile a definitive list of BDS targets and that does not become quickly outdated,” JLens explained. “The list of potential BDS targets can expand at any time due to evolving geopolitical events and misguided activists campaigns. This dynamic nature of BDS targeting was exemplified during the editting phase of this research report, when BDS proponents expanded their calls for boycotts and divestments to include major corporations like Coca-Cola … this recent addition underscores the fluid nature of BDS campaigns and the potential for rapid shifts in targeted companies.”
American universities are largely rejecting demands to divest from Israel and entities linked to the Jewish state, but some have embraced divestment or other policies approximating it, Inside Higher Ed reported earlier this month, noting that California State University-Sacramento has said it will not invest in companies which “profit from genocide, ethnic cleansing, and activities that violate fundamental human rights,” an ambiguous turn of phrase that does not specifically mention Israel. Additionally, the outlet added, Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York has committed to implementing “socially responsible investment screens” that prevent investments in companies “substantially and intractably benefiting from the war in Palestine.”
As The Algemeiner has previously reported, Brown University’s Corporation of trustees will soon vote on a divestment proposal based on the demands of a group which calls itself the Brown Divest Coalition (BDC). According to The Brown Daily Herald, Brown president Christina Paxson initially only promised the protesters a meeting with members of the Brown Corporation, but the students pushed for more concessions and ultimately coaxed her into making divestment a real possibility.
JLens says in its report that Brown would lose $309 million dollars if it chooses to accept the investment advice of its undergraduates. The mere possibility of it is already causing damage. Earlier this month, a trustee of the Brown Corporation, Joseph Edelman, resigned from his position, citing the upcoming vote.
“It’s no coincidence that leading pro-boycott groups have ties to terrorist organizations that seek the annihilation of the Jewish people,” he wrote in an op-ed, published by the Wall Street Journal, announcing his resignation. “In the end, that is the goal of the BDS movement, and I can’t accept the treatment of a hate movement as legitimate and deserving of a hearing. Brown’s policy of appeasement won’t work. It’s a capitulation to the very hatred that led to the Holocaust and the unspeakable horrors of Oct. 7.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJ.Pierre.
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Antisemitic Incidents in Argentina Surge by 15% Amid Global Rise, New Report Finds
Argentina’s President Javier Milei attends a commemoration event ahead of the anniversary of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community center, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 17, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Martin Cassarini
Argentina experienced a 15 percent increase in reported antisemitic incidents last year, as the Hamas-led massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the ensuing war in the Middle East sparked a rise in hate crimes, according to a report issued by the country’s Jewish umbrella organization on Thursday.
The Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA) presented the 2024 Annual Report on Antisemitism in Argentina, which recorded 687 anti-Jewish hate crimes — up from 598 antisemitic incidents in 2023 — marking a notable surge in antisemitic activity in the country.
According to the report, X and Facebook were the main platforms where hate messages were spread. However, antisemitic incidents also increased in public spaces, schools, and even neighborhoods.
“Hate may change its form, but it never truly disappears,” DAIA said in a post on X. “Behind every statistic is a story — a person, a community, a wound.”
El odio se transforma, pero no desaparece.
El Informe Anual sobre Antisemitismo en la Argentina 2024 presentado hoy por la DAIA registró 687 denuncias recibidas, un aumento del 15 por respecto al año anterior.
El ataque del 7 de octubre y la guerra en Medio Oriente reactivaron… pic.twitter.com/euEodYmswF— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) June 19, 2025
The study indicates that 66 percent of the antisemitic incidents originated in the digital realm, with a significant rise in Nazi symbols and conspiracy theories.
There was also a 34 percent increase in reported physical assaults, with such hate crimes rising in schools and neighborhoods.
“At DAIA, we are committed every day to raising awareness, reporting, and eliminating antisemitism in all its forms,” the organization said in a statement. “Because staying silent is part of the problem.”
The report explains that the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel has triggered a surge in antisemitic expressions, with 39.5 percent of the hate crimes involving discourse related to the war in Gaza, followed by 23.5 percent involving Nazi symbolism.
Argentina has been hardly alone in reporting a surge in anti-Jewish crimes. According to the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency for Israel, there was a staggering 340 percent increase in total antisemitic incidents worldwide in 2024 compared to 2022.
For example, the United States reported a 288 percent increase in antisemitic atrocities last year compared to 2022, while Canada experienced a 562 percent surge over the same period.
In Europe, France saw a surge of over 350 percent in antisemitic incidents, while the United Kingdom recorded a 450 percent spike, with nearly 2,000 acts of antisemitism in just the first half of 2024.
In South Africa, antisemitic incidents rose by 185 percent, while Australia experienced a sharp increase of 387 percent.
At the global level, the report found that 41 percent of incidents involved antisemitic propaganda, 15.5 percent included acts of violence, and around 25 percent were related to Israel.
The research also revealed that online antisemitism surged, rising by more than 300 percent.
With Argentine President Javier Milei among the most vocal supporters of Israel, Argentina has become a key player in global efforts to combat antisemitism and terrorism, while defending democracy and Israel’s right to exist.
Last year, for example, more than 30 countries led by the United States adopted “global guidelines for countering antisemitism” during a gathering of special envoys and other representatives from around the globe in Argentina.
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Massive Times Square Billboard Denounces ‘Free Palestine’ Movement for Contributing to Rise in Antisemitism
A digital billboard in Times Square organized by the Coalition for Jewish Values that condemns the “Free Palestine” movement. Photo: Provided
A Jewish organization representing more than 2,500 Orthodox rabbis launched a billboard campaign in Times Square on Wednesday that condemns the “Free Palestine” movement for fueling the deadly rise of antisemitism in the US after the attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, The Algemeiner has learned.
The 10-second digital advertisement, organized by the Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV), reads: “Free Palestine = Support for Hamas = Calling for Genocide of Jews. America, Wake Up. It Never Ends With the Jews!” The ad will appear multiple times per hour and be live in Times Square for 30 days, according to CJV.
“When students on college campuses chant ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ America itself is at risk,” said CJV Executive Vice President Rabbi Yaakov Menken in a released statement. “We call upon all Americans to join us in speaking clearly about who and what the bloodthirsty ‘Free Palestine’ movement stands for, and the need to stamp it out.” CJV is the largest rabbinic public policy organization in America.
The United States has recorded more than 10,000 antisemitic incidents since the Hamas-led massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, according to data presented to the Israeli parliament’s Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Commission in January.
Since then, a terrorist set fire to the official residence of Jewish Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro because of the arsonist’s support for “Palestine” and the Palestinian people; two Israeli Embassy workers were murdered in Washington, DC, by a gunman who shouted “Free Palestine” before being arrested; and a man who threw Molotov cocktails at people rallying in Boulder, Colorado, for the Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip yelled “Free Palestine” during the terror attack.
At a congressional vigil last week for the two Israeli embassy employees murdered in May, US House Speaker Mike Johnson said “the ‘Free Palestine’ call has become a violent movement that collaborates with Hamas.”
“Too many Jewish organizations are afraid to say what Speaker Johnson finds obvious: the cry of ‘Free Palestine’ is the call of domestic terrorists,” said Menken. “Israel is the only free country in the Middle East. The one thing Israel is not free of is Jews, and that is what ‘Free Palestine’ aims to correct, in the model of Hitler’s Final Solution. They have no interest in building a nation but destroying one. They do not want to elevate Palestinian Arabs, but to eradicate Jews. This is classic antisemitism, and history proves that there is no greater danger to the continuity of a civilization.”
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Actor Jason Isaacs Vows to Keep Wearing Hostage Pin During Public Appearances Despite Criticism
Jason Isaacs attends the 2025 White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC on April 26, 2025. Photo: Annabelle Gordon/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
British actor Jason Isaacs said he remains committed to wearing in public a pin honoring the Israelis held captive by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip for 20 months because “it matters” to the families of hostages.
The “White Lotus” star, who is Jewish, has been seen on several red carpets this year wearing a yellow ribbon pin that draws awareness about the hostages abducted from Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Isaacs has worn the pin at the Los Angeles season three premiere of “The White Lotus” in February, the BRIT Awards in London in March, and the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and 42nd Miami Film Festival, both in April, among many other events. He also wore the pin during red carpet appearances last year, including the British Independent Film Awards and even the opening night of the production “Barcelona” in London’s West End.
The “Harry Potter” star said in an interview with Vulture published on Monday that he “always” wears the pin if he is making a red carpet or press appearance.
“I wear the hostage pin because there are innocent people who were taken from their homes. Most of them are peace activists who lived in border communities where they were ferrying sick kids to hospitals and working with people from Gaza constantly,” he said. “There are Holocaust survivors, there are children who were taken, there are people being starved and tortured and raped who have no access to the Red Cross.”
“People are rightfully talking and thinking about all the civilians that are in danger everywhere else,” he added. “But those people in tunnels, it’s now 600 days they’ve been there, they’ve been forgotten entirely.” He also admitted that he understands why many other celebrities have chosen not to wear similar pins publicly.
Hamas terrorists are still holding captive 53 men and women – including two Americans – who were abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, during the Hamas-led deadly rampage across southern Israel. They include several civilians who have been confirmed dead — such as 84-year-old Amiram Cooper and 86-year-old Arie Zalmanowicz — and their bodies are being held hostage by Hamas.
Isaacs told Vulture he has been called a “Zionist baby killer” and “Zionazi” for choosing to wear the hostage pin. “Even a yellow hostage pin for innocents is deemed political, which it isn’t,” he noted.
He additionally shared a story about the family of a hostage who thanked him for wearing the pin in public appearances.
“I now am aware that they are watching me and that it matters to them,” Isaacs explained. “If my son or sister or daughter or father was being kept in a tunnel somewhere and weighed 25 kilos now, or may have been strangled or shot, and it felt important to me that some actors somewhere wore the yellow hostage pin, then who am I to not wear it?”
The Bring Them Home Now campaign, which calls for the immediate return of the hostages, additionally thanked Isaacs for his commitment to wearing the pin in an Instagram post this week after his interview with Vulture was published.
During his conversation with the publication, Isaacs also shared his thoughts on the Israel-Hamas war. He said it is a complex issue and that he ultimately wishes for peace in the region for everyone. “Who doesn’t?” he asked. “I don’t know anybody, apart from the extremists on all sides, who want either continued war or tension.”
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