LA TIMES
UC Regent Jay Sures condemns UCLA student government for criticizing Israeli hostage event
Jaweed Kaleem
April 24, 2026

In a rare rebuke, UC Regent Jay Sures is speaking out in a blistering criticism of UCLA student government leaders amid a growing controversy over the campus visit of a freed Israeli hostage held by Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Saying he was “disgusted and appalled” by recent statements from the undergraduate student government voicing opposition to an on-campus event featuring former Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov, Sures, in a letter to student government leaders, said that the “failure of some student leaders in your council to listen to and acknowledge views of people with whom they disagree” is “disappointing and dangerous.”…The growing controversy stems from a statement the UCLA Undergraduate Student Assn. Council published this month “condemning” the campus Hillel for bringing Shem Tov to speak at an April 14 event tied to Yam HaShoah…READ MORE