Police investigating academic who ‘told Israeli girl Jews had become Nazis’

A former Cambridge don who reportedly claimed an Israeli schoolgirl that “Jews have become the Nazis” when asked for help on a school project is now the subject of a police investigation.

BDS activist Dr Marsha Levine, an archaezoologist who specialises in the domestication and history of horses, told 13-year-old Sachar Rabinovitch in an email exchange that she would not answer questions until “there is peace and justice for Palestinians.”

The British-American academic, who last lectured at Cambridge University in 2010, is then alleged to said in the Jewish Chronicle “The Jews have become the Nazis”.

Cambridge Constabulary have confirmed they are investigating following a complaint from the Campaign Against Antisemitism. 

North West Friends of Israel branded Levine’s response to the schoolgirl, in which she said the girl was “old enough to learn about Israeli history”, as “child abuse”.

The Jewish academic’s email read: “You might be a child, but if you are old enough to write to me, you are old enough to learn about Israeli history and how it has impacted on the lives of Palestinian people. Maybe your family has the same views as I do, but I doubt it.”

Unrepentant, she defended her uncompromising stance in a subsequent interview, saying: “Jews have turned themselves into monsters.

“I want this girl not to worry about horses…I don’t see any obligation to further her ego or make her feel better about herself.

“I don’t think it’s about her – I think it’s about her parents. I gave her useful information which might help her for the rest of her life. I have to stand up for what I believe in…The Jews have become the Nazis. Jews are behaving just like the people who treated them.”

Shamir Rabinovitch, the girl’s father, said he was “shocked” by Levine’s reply, adding: “I think it’s ok to have different opinions about Israel…But it’s not OK to involve children in this stuff.”