Dear Columbia Students, Divestment From Israel Won’t Work

Student protesters who have brought Columbia University to a halt want the institution to sell its investments in companies linked to Israel. Their demands appear to be about finance, but to the extent the money makes a difference—not much—it would leave them worse off and Israel’s friends better off.

The divestment campaign, along with the student demand to break academic ties to Israeli universities, can only succeed by isolating Israel culturally. It can’t work financially, so its only chance is that Israelis fed up with being treated as the bad guys will push their government to change direction.

I’m not going to talk much about the politics, except to say that the parallel frequently made to the boycott of apartheid South Africa isn’t a very good one. That boycott lasted decades, mainly involved consumers, not investors, and had serious financial effects on the country’s exports. Cutting academic ties with South Africa didn’t have such a clear impact as protesters today believe, research suggests.