Shai Davidai

Academic career

Davidai earned a B.A. in psychology and cognitive science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2009. After moving to the United States around 2009, Professor Thomas Gilovich was his Ph.D. advisor. His findings on FOMO, nepo babies, and perception of income inequality have been featured in The New York Times, Scientific American, The Guardian, and The New Yorker.

Gaza war

Pro-Israel advocacy at Columbia University

After the October 7 attacks on Israel and subsequent Gaza war, protests erupted at numerous educational institutions, including Columbia University. In Davidai's view, the student protesters were motivated by "hate". Critical of Columbia's response to pro-Palestine activism and antisemitism on its campus,

After a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) leader called the October 7 attacks "an unprecedented historic moment" and a faculty member referred to them as "a stunning victory", Davidai spoke at a candlelight vigil on campus in October 2023. he said that student protesters had celebrated the October 7 attacks and that several universities, including Columbia, were unsafe.

Columbia students set up encampments on campus as part of a pro-Palestine protest in April 2024. Davidai criticized the university's response as insufficient and called for the National Guard to respond. On 22 April, he asked Columbia's administration for police protection for a pro-Israel protest he had planned near the student encampment. It declined and told him to hold his event away from the encampment. When Davidai attempted to enter the main Columbia campus later that day, an administrator denied him access, and he discovered that his ID card had been deactivated. In a speech to the group of protesters that had come with him, he said it was his right as a Jewish person and professor to access the campus.

Later that year, a Jewish student said he was punched in the face at a Barnard pro-Palestinian protest, and Davidai argued that the university's inadequate response to campus protests had promoted the conditions leading to the violence. He also attributed the 2025 New Orleans truck attack to universities' inadequate response to protests organized by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).

In March 2025, Davidai posted a message to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on X calling for the deportation of Palestinian student protester Mahmoud Khalil. Khalil emailed Columbia interim president Katrina Armstrong asking for protection following a "doxxing campaign", naming Davidai as one of the campaign's two leaders. Davidai supported the arrest but expressed concern that Khalil would not receive a fair trial.

Davidai appeared in October 8 (2025), a documentary about antisemitism during the Gaza war.

Investigation In April 2024, Columbia President Minouche Shafik said that over 50 complaints had been lodged against Davidai and he was under investigation for harassment. A petition alleging that Davidai harassed pro-Palestinian students on social media and calling for his termination obtained over 11,000 signatures. Another petition urged Columbia to drop its investigation and was supported by more than 32,000 signatures.

According to Columbia, Davidai was temporarily suspended from campus in October 2024 for harassing university employees. Columbia said Davidai threatened and intimidated the university's chief operating officer, Cas Holloway, in violation of university policies. Earlier that month, Davidai had published a video of himself following and questioning Halloway about the university's response to pro-Palestine protests on campus. Davidai had also doxxed a Columbia professor on his Twitter account and called Columbia professor Rashid Khalidi a Hamas spokesperson.

In July 2025, Davidai posted a screenshot on social media of a letter from the Columbia University "Office of Institutional Equity" saying that its investigation into him for harassment was closed without a determination of wrongdoing. Along with the screenshot, Davidai wrote that Columbia had "admitted that I hadn't done anything wrong". The same day, Columbia Business School announced to faculty that Davidai was leaving. One of his accusers posted a screenshot of a different letter from OIE that said it had ended the investigation without any determination and that investigations close when their subjects' employment ends. Thomas Gilovich, Davidai's PhD advisor, has called him a "peacenik".

Tablet published a 2024 article by Davidai and his wife. They wrote that they had lost friends due to their pro-Israel activism, despite their left-wing Israeli politics, including avoiding the purchase of items from the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Davidai has criticized Betar, at one point calling it "a group of violence-loving thugs".