A wealthy American benefactor and graduate of Columbia University who served in World War II has given a $260 million donation to an Israeli university, as the fallout from months of protests and police operations on U.S. campuses continues. The news comes as pro-Palestinian protesters set up a new encampment in front of Los Angeles City Hall on Monday night, and after a similar protest encampment returned to the main campus at Columbia on Friday.
Bar-Ilan will invest the money in “deep tech,” recruiting researchers in energy, environment, cryptography, bio-convergence, quantum technology, artificial intelligence and natural language processing. The college was founded in 1955 and has about 20,000 students. Columbia was the scene of a high-profile standoff during the recent wave of protests before summer break began last month.