Oxford and Cambridge student leaders meet President Herzog on Pinsker Centre Israel delegation

Senior student leaders from Oxford and Cambridge have met Israeli President Isaac Herzog during an eight-day study tour of Israel organised by the Pinsker Centre, as concerns grow over extremism and polarisation on British university campuses.

The delegation brought 20 non-Jewish students involved in student politics, debate societies and national political networks to Israel, combining high-level political briefings with meetings across civil society, including Palestinian voices, and visits to communities devastated by the 7 October Hamas attacks.

Students met President Herzog alongside Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel and former deputy prime minister Dan Meridor. The programme also included discussions with Palestinian journalist Rami Nazzal, Palestinian academic John Munayer, and Arab-Israeli Christian leader Colonel Shadi Khalloul.

A central focus of the trip was exposure to the human impact of 7 October. Participants travelled to Israel’s south, visiting Kfar Aza and the Nova music festival massacre site, and heard testimony from Nova survivor Shalev Biton. The group also met Meirav Leshem Gonen, the mother of Romi Gonen, who was held hostage by Hamas.

The visit comes in the same week that the United Arab Emirates announced a reduction in student subsidies for study in the UK citing the presence of extremist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, on British campuses. Pinsker Centre organisers said the delegation was intended to strengthen informed, responsible leadership at a time when debate around Israel has become increasingly hostile for Jewish students.

Ben Freeman, executive director of the Pinsker Centre, said the delegation left him “optimistic” about the future of campus discourse.

“This was a truly remarkable group,” he said. “We return from Israel with renewed optimism for our next generation of leaders. Their desire to thoughtfully engage with complicated ideas and draw their own conclusions was admirable, and is something we hope to see more of.”

Several participants said the trip had already reshaped their understanding of the region. Merit Habib-Matta, an Egyptian-British student at the University of Oxford, described the visit as transformative.

“This trip was such a formative experience for me,” she said. “I’m so glad I had the privilege of taking this trip, which helped me become more nuanced, knowledgeable, and confident about this region. I hope to bring back everything I’ve seen to Oxford and change the discourse around Israel on my campus.”

Ben Ashworth, an Oxford student who has served on the committee of the university’s Conservative Association, said he now felt better prepared to challenge hostility towards Israel, “especially the Oxford Union, where an anti-Israel and antisemitic narrative has taken foothold.”

The delegation marked the Pinsker Centre’s first Israel trip since 7 October, 2023. The organisation last brought a group of 50 non-Jewish student leaders to Israel in summer 2023. Organisers said the return of such visits was particularly significant as Israel begins to reopen to educational programmes following the war.

Founded in 2016, the Pinsker Centre is a registered charity and campus-based foreign policy think tank that works across UK universities to promote what it describes as nuanced and respectful debate on international affairs, including Israel and the Middle East.