Harvard Divinity School recently tapped Counter‑Zionist Hire, Shaul Magid, to serve as its inaugural Professor of Modern Jewish Studies in Residence—a move meant to address “anti‑Israeli bias” on campus. The appointment stirred controversy due to Magid’s vocal critiques of Zionism, which he labels illiberal and chauvinist.
Magid, a Jewish philosopher who views himself as a “counter‑Zionist,” argues that while Israel exists as a state, Zionism as an ideology has outlived its purpose. In his 2023 book The Necessity of Exile, he wrote: “Zionism had its time; it did its work; now it can be set aside, along with Manifest Destiny, colonialism, and any number of other chauvinistic and ethnocentric ideologies of the past.”
Harvard’s move follows a task force report that warned about “politicized instruction” at its Divinity School, which the report said “mainstreamed and normalized what many Jewish and Israeli students experience as antisemitism.” Arab and Jewish dynamics in classrooms have grown tense, the report noted, as “anti‑Zionism slips into what is effectively antisemitism.”
Critics immediately raised concern. Rabbi David Wolpe, an early member of the advisory group at Harvard who later resigned, described Magid as “very fringe” and warned he “does not represent anything like the mainstream view of the American Jewish community.”
Magid himself contends his appointment isn’t about balancing perspectives, but about hiring “the best person you can get.” He told the Free Beacon that the search began long before the task force’s recommendations became public. He insisted that his position reflects academic rigor rather than reactionary politics.
Still, many question whether appointing a critic of Zionism to combat antisemitism sends the right message. Adding fuel to the debate, Magid’s own writings describe a “one‑state solution” in which Israel becomes “both Jewish and Palestinian” without prioritizing land as belonging to any group—a stance some view as undermining Jewish self-determination.
In response to the backlash, Magid’s defenders say he fosters intellectual openness, but as Rabbi Wolpe asserted, “He is not an answer to the problem that Harvard has with their Jewish students.” The Counter‑Zionist Hire may mark a shift in Harvard’s strategy—or deepen the campus rift.
