Trump administration sues Harvard over anti-Israel protests

The Trump administration filed a lawsuit Friday against Harvard University, accusing the institution of allowing a "hostile environment" toward Jewish and Israeli students during pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus from 2023 to 2025.

President Donald Trump has launched an offensive against major American universities, accusing them of giving free rein on their campuses to pro-Palestinian movements in the face of the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, action which he equates with antisemitism.

In February, the Department of Justice filed a similar lawsuit against the University of California, Los Angeles.

In its new complaint, the DOJ said Harvard "faculty and leadership turned a blind eye to antisemitism and discrimination against Jews and Israelis," accusing the university of failing to enforce its own rules against pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli protesters.

"Harvard let anti-Israeli demonstrators occupy its libraries. Harvard allowed an anti-Israeli encampment to persist for twenty days in violation of university policy," said the lawsuit, filed in a Massachusetts court.

"Harvard fostered and continues to foster a campus climate where hostile antisemitism and anti-Israeli conduct thrives," it said.

In a statement responding to the lawsuit, Harvard said it "cares deeply about members of our Jewish and Israeli community and remains committed to ensuring they are embraced, respected, and can thrive on our campus."

The university said it had taken "substantive, proactive" steps to address the root causes of antisemitism and had "enhanced training and education on antisemitism for students, faculty, and staff."

It also has launched programs to "promote civil dialogue and respectful disagreement inside and outside the classroom," the university said. "Harvard's efforts demonstrate the very opposite of deliberate indifference."

In its lawsuit, the Trump administration asked the court to declare Harvard in violation of its contract with the federal government and, consequently, to release it from its obligation to pay millions of dollars in federal funds to the university and to demand the return of money already given.

The move is the latest salvo in the Trump administration's offensive against the prestigious and oldest US university.

In September a federal judge, acting on a complaint filed by Harvard, ordered the government to rescind its freeze on $2.6 billion in funding to the university.

At the time, Trump indicated he was close to reaching an agreement under which Harvard would pay approximately $500 million, earmarked primarily for professional training.

However, in February the president said on his Truth Social network that he was now seeking $1 billion in damages from Harvard.

This announcement, which was not immediately followed by action, came after a New York Times article stating that Trump had abandoned his initial request for $200 million from Harvard in the face of university resistance.