From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Father of former Israeli hostage to join faculty at Columbia University
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Jonathan Dekel-Chen, the father of former Israeli hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, will join the faculty at Columbia University, the school announces.
Terrorists abducted Sagui Dekel-Chen from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023. He was released by Hamas in February 2025 after 498 days in captivity.
His father was a prominent campaigner for his release.
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, an academic at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, will take a position at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, the school announces.
He will teach three courses — on Jewish history in Eastern Europe, on Russia’s engagement with the Middle East, and on modern Israeli history.
Jewish members of the Columbia community applaud the announcement.
“Many of us marched to support him until his son Sagui was returned from Gaza after 498 days. We are delighted to now have him as a colleague,” Columbia Faculty and Staff Supporting Israel says in a statement.
After the start of the war in Gaza, Columbia became the epicenter of the anti-Israel campus protest movement in the US. The campus has been quiet more recently.
The Times of Israel Community.