Israeli American historian Raz Segal, who called Gaza war 'Genocide', receives $250K settlement from University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota has paid a $250,000 settlement to Israeli-American historian Raz Segal after rescinding a June 2024 job offer for him to lead its Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. The university withdrew the offer just five days after extending it, following a coordinated pressure campaign by donors, legislators, and pro-Israel groups. The backlash centered on an October 2023 op-ed by Segal characterizing Israel's actions in Gaza as a 'textbook case of genocide.' Represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights, Segal argued the university violated his First Amendment rights. The settlement includes no admission of wrongdoing by the university.

Job offer rescission

• ▪The University of Minnesota extended a formal job offer to Israeli-American historian Raz Segal on June 5, 2024, to lead its Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
• ▪The University of Minnesota abruptly withdrew the job offer to Raz Segal on June 10, 2024, five days after extending it, citing community feedback
• ▪University of Minnesota professors Karen Painter and Bruno Chaouat resigned from the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies advisory board in protest of Raz Segal's hiring

Donor pressure campaign

• ▪University of Minnesota public relations officials warned internally on June 8, 2024, that defending Raz Segal too strongly was risky, leading them to remove a sentence denying political litmus tests from draft media responses
• ▪The Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas coordinated with donors and community members to organize opposition against Raz Segal's appointment
• ▪Public records requests revealed that University of Minnesota donors, including Lynne Redleaf, threatened to withdraw pledges and halt fundraising if Raz Segal's appointment was not addressed

Gaza genocide characterization

• ▪Raz Segal published an op-ed in Jewish Currents on October 13, 2023, characterizing Israel's military campaign in Gaza as 'a textbook case of genocide.'
• ▪Critics accused Raz Segal of justifying Hamas's October 7, 2023 attacks, an accusation Segal rejected, pointing to his characterization of the attacks as war crimes and mass murder

Legal settlement terms

• ▪The terms of the $250,000 settlement stipulate that the payout is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing on the part of the University of Minnesota
• ▪Raz Segal reached a $250,000 legal settlement with the University of Minnesota in late July or early August 2026, more than two years after his job offer was rescinded

Academic freedom concerns

• ▪Forty leading Holocaust and genocide scholars signed a letter supporting Raz Segal, while University of Minnesota faculty passed a vote of no confidence against the interim president and provost
• ▪The Center for Constitutional Rights, which represented Raz Segal, argued that the University of Minnesota violated the First Amendment and academic freedom by retaliating against Segal's protected speech