By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-09-16 21:41:40 | Updated at 2026-09-16 22:25:35
47 minutes ago
All Yale the Xi.
Incoming Yale freshmen are overwhelmingly more critical of Israel than they are of China, according to an alarming poll of new students.
Almost two-thirds (63%) of the first-year students said they held a critical view of the Jewish state — almost double the 35% who said they were critical of China, according to a Yale Daily News survey of students.
The number of Yalies who said they held a “very critical” opinion of Israel was an eyebrow-raising four times that of those who held the same harsh opinion of China (40% versus 10%), the poll found.
At the same time, 14% of respondents were very or somewhat supportive of China, compared to just 8% who felt the same about Israel.
Chinese students make up about 0.8% of the incoming freshman body, the report found.
Yale’s Connecticut campus was one of hundreds across the US hit by anti-Israel protests in the wake of the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, and the Israeli military response in Gaza — with billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman even comparing the Ivy League school to Hamas.
The Yale Chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine organized walkouts, rallies, and demonstrations against Israel in the weeks following the attacks by Palestinian militants.
In April 2024, anti-Israel student activists initiated a hunger strike on Beinecke Plaza to pressure the Yale Corporation to divest from weapons manufacturers supplying Israel, the Connecticut Mirror reported.
That same month, in the wake of the initial tent clearings at New York’s Columbia University, Yale students pitched tents on Beinecke Plaza, setting up what they called a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.”
A Jewish Yale student journalist was stabbed in the eye with a Palestinian flag amid the protests.
A total of 47 protesters, all but three of them students, were arrested on charges of Class A misdemeanor trespassing when Yale and New Haven police officers entered the plaza to dismantle the encampment on April 22, 2024, reported the New York Times at the time.
A second encampment was set up on Cross Campus days later, before university officials issued formal trespass warnings, as reported by Yale News.
Police cleared the second site without large-scale mass arrests, but the unrest on campus continued throughout the summer.
On May 20, 2024, dozens of graduating students disrupted Yale President Peter Salovey’s address during the prestigious institution’s 323rd commencement ceremony.
Many stood during his speech, displayed banners, or walked out, in response to what they saw as Yale’s response to the war.
In April 2025, a fresh encampment was established on Beinecke Plaza to protest an upcoming talk by Israeli security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The report, published Wednesday, also found that more than 80% of incoming Yale freshmen have a “very critical” view of President Trump and 67% held a “very critical” opinion of Vice President JD Vance, who attended Yale Law School between 2010 and 2013, where he met his future wife, Usha.
Almost half (48%) of respondents strongly disagree with the US military action in Iran.
The incoming Yale freshmen surveyed were overwhelmingly liberal, with over two-thirds (68%) identifying as left-leaning.
Representatives for Yale did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
