Conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk, while speaking at Cambridge University, slammed a know-it-all anti-Israel student who equated Israel and the IDF with Hamas, noting that Hamas started the war and still holds Israeli hostages inside tunnels.

I just debated at Cambridge and Oxford. At Cambridge, instead of focusing on their own decaying country, they are obsessed with Israel. The lack of moral clarity on this topic is chilling. I decided to put this bouncy Brit in his place.

Watch: pic.twitter.com/RRnLiXJE2X

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 21, 2025

The post WATCH: Charlie Kirk destroys smug anti-Israel Cambridge student appeared first on World Israel News.

Koller hopes that introducing students to these writings will open them up to new angles of studying cultural and intellectual history across the world.

By Shira Li Bartov, JTA

Since 1540, a prestigious chain of scholars has held the title of Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Cambridge.

But not one of these scholars of Hebrew and Semitic studies was Jewish — until this year.

In September 2025, Aaron Koller will become the first Jew to join the university’s department of Middle Eastern Studies as the Regius Professor of Hebrew, a role established by King Henry VIII.

Koller is packing up from New York City, where he has taught at Yeshiva University, specializing in Hebrew from biblical to medieval texts, since earning his doctorate there in 2009.

Aaron Koller. (Yeshiva University)

According to Koller, it’s no surprise that Jews never made the cut before. Henry VIII, who founded the Church of England along with the professorship, intended it for Anglican churchmen to teach Hebrew in the Anglican tradition. That idea lasted until recently.

“Fifty years ago, it wouldn’t have struck anyone as odd that no Jewish person had held the position,” Koller said in an interview. “It was pretty clearly — not officially, but very clearly — meant for an Anglican professor of the Old Testament.”

Koller — who spent the 2022-23 academic year in Cambridge — credits his predecessor, Geoffrey Khan, with breaking the mold. Khan is not a member of the Anglican Church nor a specialist in the Old Testament, but a scholar of Semitic languages with mixed British, Indian and Iranian ancestry.

In his new role, Koller wants to promote the study of Hebrew texts over the thousands of years between the Hebrew Bible and the modern state of Israel, drawing on Cambridge’s rich trove of manuscripts that includes the Cairo Genizah, the vast collection of medieval manuscripts discovered in Egypt in the late 19th century.

Koller hopes that introducing students to these writings will open them up to new angles of studying cultural and intellectual history across the world.

Despite being the first Jewish Regius professor, Koller said he is wary of narrowing the department around “Jewish studies for the Jews.”

In the United States, Jewish studies departments tend to attract Jewish students looking to connect with their identity and heritage.

That fills a valuable need, said Koller, but he wants to build out Hebrew studies as a home for any student with a humanistic interest in Hebrew — addressing the same historical and philosophical questions that draw people to studying ancient Greek or Latin.

“No one thinks that Greek studies would only be for Greeks,” he said. “Greek studies spend a lot of time trying to explain to the world that this is of universal significance. It’s not for every single person, but it’s for any given person; [they] will find something interesting here. And I very much want to do the same for Hebrew studies in Cambridge.”

As far as faculty representation, there is still progress to be made in the Regius Professorship.

“There still hasn’t been a woman in the position,” said Koller. “That’s yet to be solved.”

The post For the first time since Henry VIII created the role, a Jew will helm Hebrew studies at Cambridge appeared first on World Israel News.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, an avowed anti-Semite, was asked on Sunday at the U.K.’s Cambridge University:

“Why do you say that the Jewish people in general are inclined towards money? There are lots of Jews who care about human rights, care about social justice, care about democracy.”

Mohamad responded, “I have some Jewish friends, very good friends. They are not like the other Jews, that’s why they are my friends,” comments to which the crowd responded with laughter.

“I have some Jewish friends, very good friends. They are not like the other Jews, that’s why they are my friends”- Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad at the Cambridge Union last night.

The audience laughs.

Freedom of speech is not a joke when it incites hatred against one people. pic.twitter.com/2ZRrMDtfKy

— Union of Jewish Students (@UJS_UK) June 17, 2019

The post WATCH: Malaysian dictator openly derides Jews, UK audience erupts in laughter appeared first on World Israel News.