Anti-Israel activists at university in London threaten to 'behead' Israeli professor

Anti-Israel students at City University of London threatened to behead Israeli economics professor Michael Ben-Gad during his lecture on Wednesday.

According to Sky News, a group of masked activists stormed into Ben-Gad’s classroom, covering their faces with keffiyehs and accusing him of being a “terrorist” and a “war criminal” for his service in the Israeli military between 1982 and 1985. Like most Israeli citizens, Ben-Gad was legally required to serve in the army at age 18.

“They came right up to my face and threatened me,” he told Sky News. “I finished my lecture and it was invaded by protesters who called me a war criminal and a Nazi. They refused to leave; they were masked. One of them made a threat about having my head chopped off.”

The professor, who describes himself as “an unapologetic Israeli patriot,” said he refuses to be intimidated and intends to continue teaching.

“No one is going to intimidate me,” he declared.

Video footage from the incident shows one of the activists shouting, “You have blood on your hands!” at Ben-Gad. According to the Daily Mail, the confrontation followed the distribution of flyers across campus featuring the professor’s photo and the label “terrorist.”

Masked youth stormed the classroom of the Jewish economics professor Michael Ben-Gad at City University of London yesterday.

He told British media that one of them made gestures about slitting his throat.

🇬🇧🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/HA7Xh1mYVg

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 23, 2025

“My only crime is being a Jew who has lived in the Middle East,” Ben-Gad said.

Despite the personal threats, Ben-Gad expressed greater concern for Jewish students in the UK.

“My main concern is for people who are far more vulnerable than I am, and I mean particularly Jewish students who have been targeted all over the country,” he said.

He also praised City University for supporting him.

“The university has been fantastic – they have been supportive from the very start,” he noted. “There was an offer of paid leave, but under the circumstances, I am carrying on with my duties. The students should expect nothing less from me.”

The anti-Israel activists later demanded that the university apologize for employing the Israeli professor, declaring,

“Shame on City for allowing a terrorist to be near and teach Arab and Muslim students.”

Ben-Gad dismissed the campaign as an attempt to silence him.

“If the objective was to frighten or intimidate me, they will have to try a lot harder than printing a flyer or staging a small demonstration,” he told the Daily Mail.

“Students have a right to express opinions – even those I find abhorrent – but they do not have a right to disrupt, harass, threaten or physically intimidate. Today they crossed a very bright red line.”

City University of London publicly condemned the antisemitic assault.

“We reject the unlawful actions of this small group of individuals that is neither affiliated with the university nor its students’ union,” a spokesperson stated. “We will continue to support and protect our staff and students, including Michael, who has the full support of the university and its senior management team.”

The incident comes amid a surge in anti-Israel and antisemitic activity in the United Kingdom since the Hamas Oct. 7 massacre. The Community Security Trust (CST) registered nearly 2,000 verified antisemitic incidents across the UK in the first half of 2024 – the highest number on record.

Earlier this month, Jihad al-Shamie, a British Islamist of Syrian origin, murdered two British Jews during Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, at a synagogue in Manchester.

British Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis linked the attack to the ongoing rise in antisemitism, writing on 𝕏: “For so long we have witnessed an unrelenting wave of Jew-hatred on our streets, on campuses, on social media and elsewhere – this is the tragic result. This is not only an assault on the Jewish community but an attack on the very foundations of humanity and the values of compassion, dignity and respect which we all share.”