Jeffrey Sachs: Distinguishing Criticism from Prejudice Why Challenging Israeli Policy Isn’t Anti-Semitisc

In this video, Professor Jeffrey Sachs delivers a powerful, historically grounded critique of modern Zionism, U.S. foreign policy, and the erosion of academic freedom in elite universities. Drawing on his background as a Jewish economist and public intellectual, Sachs disentangles the religious roots of Judaism from the nationalist ideology of Zionism, critiques Israel’s ongoing actions in Gaza as war crimes, and highlights how the conflation of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism distorts both history and public discourse. Through a compelling lens of global geopolitics and Middle Eastern history, he urges a two-state solution, emphasizes the dangers of U.S. veto power at the UN, and critiques Western imperial interference as a key destabilizing force in the region.