Harvard president calls students 'ignorant' on Israel-Palestinian conflict

He said he was particularly concerned that some students lack a full understanding of the issue and are unwilling to engage in debate.

He added, "The lack of knowledge and this unwillingness to have open dialogue pain me even more."

The lawsuit alleges that the university did not protect its Jewish and Israeli students by being "deliberately indifferent to a level of hostility on its campus so well-known across the nation that members of Congress were writing about it" and refusing "to enforce its campus rules against students who harass their Jewish and Israeli peers."

Garber took over as president in 2024. Previous Harvard president Claudine Gay resigned that year amid a plagiarism scandal and criticism of the school's handling of antisemitism.