‘Stunned, sickened’ foundation abandons Harvard over hostility to Israel

A “stunned and sickened” Wexner Foundation, a leading voice for the Jewish faith, is pulling its support for Harvard in the latest rebuke of the university’s handling of the Hamas terror attack in Israel.

The foundation is cutting ties with Harvard’s Kennedy School.

In an open letter addressed to Harvard’s Board of Overseers on Monday, the foundation said, “We have observed that this cherished tolerance for diverse perspectives has slowly but perceptibly narrowed over the years,” the Jerusalem Post wrote, adding that the “Wexner Israel Fellows are increasingly marginalized, their voices and views even shouted down.”

The Post adds that the open letter states, “We are stunned and sickened at the dismal failure of Harvard’s leadership to take a clear and unequivocal stand against the barbaric murders of innocent Israeli civilians by terrorists.”

The nonprofit was founded by former Victoria’s Secret billionaire Leslie Wexner and his wife, Abigail, who accused Harvard of “tiptoeing” around the Hamas attacks Oct. 7 in Israel.

Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

As the Herald reported last week, Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups backed a letter co-signed by more than 30 college organizations that stated, in part: “We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all the unfolding violence.”

The fallout from that message, and the response by Harvard President Claudine Gay that critics are saying was weak, continues to reverberate on the Cambridge, Mass., campus, which is more divided than in recent memory.

Both the Harvard University and Kennedy School social media feeds on X, the former Twitter, did not address this latest denunciation by a major donor as of presstime Monday night.

The Wexner Foundation’s latest nonprofit 990 report, according to GuideStar, states it funneled $1.83 million to Harvard in 2021 for “leadership development.” Another $660,000-plus more was also donated by the foundation to Harvard for “educational fellowships,” the latest tax form states.

Former Harvard President Larry Summers and Reps. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., and Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass. — both veterans of the War on Terror — have all ripped Harvard and some of its students for failing to back Israel so early in a war with Hamas terrorists.

Philanthropists Idan and Batia Ofer last week quit the Kennedy School’s Dean’s Executive Board.

This all comes as about 200 hostages — including some possible Americans and other foreigners — are being held by Hamas fighters. Israel is still bracing for an invasion of Gaza while trying to identify those murdered in their homes more than a week ago.