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Harvard, Jewish Activist ‘Shabbos’ Kestenbaum Settle Antisemitism Lawsuit
Alexander “Shabbos” Kestenbaum makes remarks during the fourth annual Countering Antisemitism Summit at the Four Seasons, Feb. 26, 2025. Photo: USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.
Harvard University and Alexander “Shabbos” Kestenbaum have settled a lawsuit in which the former student turned widely known pro-Israel activist accused the institution of violating the US Civil Rights Act of 1964 by permitting antisemitic discrimination and harassment.
The confidential agreement ends what Kestenbaum, an Orthodox Jews, had promised would be a protracted, scorched-earth legal battle revealing alleged malfeasance at the highest levels of Harvard’s administration. So determined was Kestenbaum to discomfit the storied institution and force it to enact long overdue reforms that he declined to participate in an earlier settlement it reached last year with a group of Jewish plaintiffs, of which he was a member, who sued the university in 2024.
Charging ahead, Kestenbaum vowed never to settle and proclaimed that the discovery phase of the case would be so damning to Harvard’s defense that no judge or jury would render a verdict in its favor. Harvard turned that logic against him, requesting a trove of documents containing his communications with advocacy groups, politicians, and US President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign staff during a period of time which saw Kestenbaum’s star rise to meteoric heights as he became a national poster-child for pro-Israel activism.
Harvard argued that the materials are “relevant to his allegations that he experienced harassment and discrimination to which Harvard was deliberately indifferent in violation of Title VI.” Additionally, it sought information related to other groups which have raised awareness of the antisemitism crisis since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, demanding to know, the Harvard Crimson reported, “the ownership, funding, financial backing, management, and structure” of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, Students Against Antisemitism (SAA), and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education (JAFE).
Without the materials, Harvard claimed, it would be unable to depose witnesses.
According to the Crimson, the university and Kestenbaum failed to agree on a timeframe for producing the requested documents, prompting it to file in May a motion that would have extracted them via court order. Meanwhile, two anonymous plaintiffs who also declined to be a party to 2024’s settlement came forward to join Kestenbaum’s complaint, which necessitated its being amended at the approval of the judge presiding over the case, Richard Stearns. In filing the motion to modify the suit, the Crimson reported, Kestenbaum’s attorneys asked Stearns to “extend the discovery deadline by at least six months” in the event that he “rejects the motion.”
On April 2, Stearns — who was appointed to the bench in 1993 by former US President Bill Clinton (D) and served as a political operative for and special assistant to Israel critic and former Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern — spurned the amended complaint and granted Harvard its discovery motion, which Kestenbaum’s attorneys had opposed in part by arguing that Harvard too had withheld key documents. Kestenbaum was given five days to submit the contents of correspondence.
On Wednesday, both parties lauded the settlement — which, according to the Crimson, included dismissing Kestenbaum’s case with prejudice — as a step toward eradicating antisemitism at Harvard University, an issue that has cost it billions of dollars in federal funding and undermined its reputation for being a beacon of enlightenment and the standard against which all other higher education institutions are judged.
“Harvard and Mr. Kestenbaum acknowledge each other’s steadfast and important efforts to combat antisemitism at Harvard and elsewhere,” Harvard University spokesman Jason Newton said in a statement.
In a lengthy statement of his own, Kestenbaum expressed gratitude for having helped “lead the student effort combating antisemitism” while accusing Harvard of resorting to duplicitous and intrusive tactics to fend off his allegations.
“Harvard opposed the anonymity of two of its current Jewish students who sought to vindicate their legal rights, and the Harvard Crimson outed them, even before the court could rule on their motion for anonymity. Harvard also issued a 999-page subpoena against Aish Hatorah, my Yeshiva in Israel that has been deeply critical of the university,” he said. “Remarkably, while Harvard sought personal and non-relevant documents between me and my friends, family, and others in the Jewish community, they simultaneously refused to produce virtually any relevant, internal communication that we had asked for during discovery.”
He continued, “I am comforted knowing that as we have now resoled our lawsuit, the Trump administration will carry the baton forward.”
Harvard’s legal troubles continue.
As previously reported by The Algemeiner, the university sued the Trump administration in April to request an injunction that would halt the government’s impounding of $2.26 billion of its federal grants and contracts and an additional $450 billion that was confiscated earlier this week.
In the complaint, shared by interim university president Alan Garber, Harvard says the Trump administration bypassed key procedural steps it must, by law, take before sequestering any federal funds. It also charges that the Trump administration does not aim, as it has publicly pledged, to combat campus antisemitism at Harvard but to impose “viewpoint-based conditions on Harvard’s funding.”
The administration has proposed that Harvard reform in ways that conservatives have long argued will make higher education more meritocratic and less welcoming to anti-Zionists and far-left extremists. Its “demands,” contained in a letter the administration sent to Garber — who subsequently released it to the public — called for “viewpoint diversity in hiring and admissions,” the “discontinuation of [diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives],” and “reducing forms of governance bloat.” They also implore Harvard to begin “reforming programs with egregious records of antisemitism” and to recalibrate its approach to “student discipline.”
Harvard rejects the Trump administration’s coupling of campus antisemitism with longstanding grievances regarding elite higher education’s alleged “wokeness,” elitism, and overwhelming bias against conservative ideas. Republican lawmakers, for their part, have maintained that it is futile to address campus antisemitism while ignoring the context in which it emerged.
On April 28, a Massachusetts district court judge, appointed to the bench by former US President Barack Obama, granted Harvard its request for the speedy processing of its case and a summary judgement in lieu of a trial, scheduling a hearing for July 21.
The following day, Harvard released its long anticipated report on campus antisemitism and along with it an apology from Garber which acknowledged that school officials failed in key ways to address the hatred to which Jewish students were subjected following the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre
The over 300-page document provided a complete account of antisemitic incidents which transpired on Harvard’s campus in recent years — from the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee’s (PSC) endorsement of the Oct. 7 terrorist atrocities to an anti-Zionist faculty group’s sharing an antisemitic cartoon which depicted Jews as murderers of people of color — and said that one source of the problem is the institution’s past refusal to afford Jews the same protections against discrimination enjoyed by other minority groups. It also issued recommendations for improving Jewish life on campus going forward.
“I am sorry for the moments when we failed to meet the high expectations we rightfully set for our community. The grave, extensive impact of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel and its aftermath had serious repercussions on campus,” Garber said in a statement accompanying the report. “Harvard cannot — and will not — abide bigotry. We will continue to provide for the safety and security of all members of our community and safeguard their freedom from harassment. We will redouble our efforts to ensure that the university is a place where ideas are welcomed, entertained, and contested in the spirt of seeking truth; where argument proceeds without sacrificing dignity; and where mutual respect is the norm.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Harvard, Jewish Activist ‘Shabbos’ Kestenbaum Settle Antisemitism Lawsuit first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Slovenia Introduces Ban on Imports From Israeli Settlements
Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob arrives to attend the European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, June 26, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman
Slovenia on Wednesday introduced a ban on imports of goods produced in Israeli settlements and approved an additional aid package for Palestinians in Gaza, the government said in a statement.
“The government today banned the import of goods originating from settlements in the occupied territories, including a ban on circumventing the ban on these imports,” the statement on the government website said.
The statement did not specify whether the ban refers to all goods produced in the territories or just Israeli goods.
The government also instructed the competent ministries to consider banning the export of goods from Slovenia intended for these Israeli communities.
“Israeli government’s actions, including the construction of illegal settlements, expropriations, the forced displacement of the Palestinian population, the destruction of their homes … constitute serious and repeated violations of international humanitarian law,” Prime Minister Robert Golob said in statement quoted by the STA news agency.
“These actions not only threaten the lives and dignity of the Palestinian population, but also the foundations of the international order.”
The news agency said the volume of goods affected is extremely low at under 2,000 euros ($2,327.60) in 2023.
The government also said on Wednesday it would provide material assistance in the form of food and blankets, estimated to be worth up to 879,490 euros, to the Palestinians affected by the war between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
Slovenia recognized a Palestinian state in June last year, following Spain, Ireland, and Norway.
Last week, it imposed an embargo on exports, imports, and the transit of arms to Israel, two weeks after it declared Israeli ministers persona non grata.
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Israeli Military Chief Opposes Gaza War Expansion, Raising Pressure on Netanyahu
The new Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, March 5, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Israel’s military chief has pushed back against Benjamin Netanyahu‘s plans to seize areas of Gaza it doesn’t already control, three Israeli officials said, as the prime minister faces increasing pressure over the war both at home and abroad.
During a tense, three-hour meeting on Tuesday, Eyal Zamir, the military chief of staff, warned the prime minister that taking the rest of Gaza could trap the military in the territory, which it withdrew from two decades ago, and could lead to harm to the hostages being held there, the sources briefed on the meeting said.
The Israeli military says it already controls 75 percent of Gaza after nearly two years of war, which began when terrorist group Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities in October 2023. It has repeatedly opposed imposing military rule, annexing the territory, and rebuilding Jewish settlements there.
Netanyahu is under intense international pressure to reach a ceasefire in the coastal enclave, which has been reduced to rubble in the fighting.
The military, which accuses Hamas of operating amongst civilians, has at times avoided areas where intelligence suggested hostages were held and former captives have said their captors threatened to kill them if Israeli forces approached.
Netanyahu told Zamir that so far the military had failed to bring about the release of the hostages, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Most of those freed so far came about as a result of diplomatic negotiations.
Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote on X Wednesday that the military chief has both the right and the duty to voice his opinion, but said that the military would carry out the government’s decisions until all war objectives are achieved.
The prime minister’s office confirmed the meeting with Zamir on Tuesday but declined to comment further and the military did not respond to a request for comment.
The prime minister is scheduled to discuss military plans for Gaza with other ministers on Thursday. A fourth source said Netanyahu wants to expand military operations in Gaza to put pressure on Hamas.
Netanyahu, who in May said that Israel would control all of Gaza, leads a right-wing coalition government, and some of his key partners have in the past threatened to quit if the government ended the war.
Following a 40-minute meeting with the prime minister on Wednesday, opposition leader Yair Lapid told reporters he had advised Netanyahu that the public was not interested in continuing the war and that a full military takeover would be a very bad idea.
A public poll last month by Israel’s Channel 12 also showed support for a diplomatic deal that would end the war and secure the release of the hostages.
There are 50 hostages still being held in Gaza, of whom at least 20 are believed to be alive. Videos released by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another terrorist group in Gaza, last week of two extremely emaciated captives triggered international condemnation.
The latest ceasefire talks in Qatar broke down last month. Hamas insists any deal must lead to a permanent end to the war, while Israel accuses the group of lacking sincerity about giving up power afterward and must be defeated.
The war in Gaza has also overextended Israel’s military, which has a small standing army and has had to repeatedly mobilize reservists. It is not clear if more reservists would be needed to expand operations and take more territory.
About 1,200 people were killed, including more than 700 civilians, and 251 hostages taken to Gaza after the Hamas attack on Israel.
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Hezbollah Says Lebanon Cabinet Decision to Seek State Monopoly on Arms Is ‘Grave Sin’
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and members of the Lebanese cabinet meet to discuss efforts to bring all weapons in the country under the control of the state, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, Lebanon, Aug. 5, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Emilie Madi
Hezbollah said on Wednesday the Lebanese government was committing a “grave sin” by tasking the army with establishing a state monopoly on arms, sharpening a national divide over calls for the Iran-backed Shi’ite Muslim terrorist group to disarm.
Despite unprecedented pressure from Washington and from its domestic rivals, the Iranian proxy has refused to fully relinquish its arsenal, which it retained after Lebanon‘s civil war ended in 1990 even as other militias disarmed.
Now, the US has demanded Lebanon‘s cabinet explicitly pledge to strip Hezbollah of its weapons – a move that risks reigniting tensions in Lebanon, a nation of multiple sects where Hezbollah retains significant support among Shi’ites.
The cabinet on Tuesday tasked the Lebanese army with drawing up a plan to confine arms across the country to six official security forces by year’s end.
Hezbollah rejected the decision in a written statement on Wednesday, saying it was a result of US “diktats” and that it would “deal with it as if it does not exist.”
“The government of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam committed a grave sin by taking a decision to strip Lebanon of its weapons to resist the Israeli enemy … This decision fully serves Israel’s interest,” the group said.
The statement said Shi’ite ministers walked out of the cabinet session before the decision was reached as “an expression of the resistance’s [Hezbollah‘s] rejection of this decision.”
The group said it remained ready to discuss a broader national security strategy and called on its supporters to remain patient.
WAR WITH ISRAEL
The session at Lebanon‘s presidential palace was the first time the cabinet addressed Hezbollah‘s weapons – unimaginable when the group was at the zenith of its power before a devastating war with Israel last year.
A US-brokered ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel in November ended that conflict, called on Lebanon to confiscate all “unauthorized” weapons across the country, and said Israel would stop offensive operations against Lebanese targets.
But Israel has kept its troops at five points in Lebanon‘s southern border region and has continued air strikes against what it says are Hezbollah fighters and arms depots.
In June, the US submitted a roadmap to Lebanese officials that proposed Hezbollah fully disarm in exchange for Israel withdrawing its troops and halting its strikes.
Hezbollah and its main ally, the Amal Movement led by parliament speaker Nabih Berri, have demanded the order be reversed, saying Israel must halt its strikes before any discussion on weapons can be held.
On Wednesday, Amal said Lebanon‘s government should focus on consolidating the November ceasefire and said the next cabinet session on Thursday would be a chance to correct course.
Ministers will meet again on Thursday to continue discussions on the US proposal.
Imad Salamey, chairman of the Lebanese-American University’s Department of Political and International Studies, said the country’s Shi’ite community, hit hardest by last year’s war, was now concerned that relinquishing Hezbollah‘s arms would leave them vulnerable to further Israeli attacks.
“We are most probably going into a polarized political landscape,” he told Reuters.