UC Regent Jay Sures condemns UCLA student government for criticizing Israeli hostage event

LOS ANGELES - In a rare rebuke, University of California Regent Jay Sures, an outspoken supporter of Jewish students and critic of pro-Palestinian activism, 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."

Sures' message, written on official UC Board of Regents letterhead, is a rare formal response to a student government action within the university system whose governance he oversees as part of the powerful 26-member UC Board of Regents. Sures sent the letter, which was obtained by The Times, to the student government Friday saying he spoke as an "individual regent" and not "for the board as a whole."

The growing controversy stems from a statement the UCLA Undergraduate Student Association Council published this month "condemning" the campus Hillel for bringing Tov, to speak at an April 14 event tied to Yam HaShoah, an annual observance of the Holocaust.

In that statement student leaders said the event was "selective platforming" of an Israeli voice - with no Palestinian counterpart - that would "legitimize and normalize" Israel's war in Gaza and bombings of Lebanon.

The statement prompted an immediate outcry in the Jewish community, garnering articles in Jewish and Israeli publications across the U.S. and in Israel that accused the student government of antisemitism. At UCLA, Hillel and another group, Students Supporting Israel, said in a statement that "members of UCLA student government have once again shown they are anti-dialogue, anti-learning, anti-truth, anti-student, anti-Jewish and antisemitic."

In his Friday statement, Sures, who is Jewish, said students had a "double standard."

"You claim you want balance in programming and more than 'a single narrative' from speakers at UCLA. Balance, by definition, inherently involves equal consideration of more than one point of view. By condemning this speaker's public appearance on our campus, your words and actions make clear you have no interest in balance at all," he wrote. "That is the biggest double standard of all. ... It is not the condemnation itself that is concerning - that is absolutely their right, but it is the rush to do so without even considering other's perspectives that is so disheartening," he wrote.

Undergraduate student government leaders routinely pass resolutions, most of which do not become news. One last year was in support of UCLA recognizing a National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Another called for more campus support for students who have children.

The resolution on the hostage speaking event also drew an unusual formal response from the university itself.

UCLA said that leaders "will review the process by which this letter was issued. The condemnation of such a peaceful event to share a story of resilience in the face of extreme suffering is antithetical to the values of our Bruin community." The Wednesday statement noted that UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk and his wife, UCLA professor Felicia Knaul, were in attendance and that the event took place "without any disruption."

The matter has also divided members of the student government.

In an interview, UC undergraduate student President Diego Bollo said the letter was released without his knowledge or input and that five members of the student government's 15-member council were not in attendance at an April 14 meeting, including him, when it was unanimously approved. He said another officer added the item to the meeting agenda that day.

"I deeply value free speech and free expression on our campus. I have worked throughout my term to ensure that the university supports all student groups in hosting speakers and a wide range of programming," Bollo said. "Free speech is a principle I do not compromise on - regardless of the nature or subject of any given event."

Bollo said the letter "reflects a lapse in oversight on my part as president" and said he is initiating a review of the student government's internal policies for drafting and releasing public statements.

The Times contacted several council members who voted for the letter and did not receive a reply.

Tov, 23, was taken by Hamas militants who attacked the Nova music festival in southern Israel. He was freed in a February 2025 prisoner exchange. In addition to Hillel, the event was sponsored by the UCLA Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies.

Sures has also been targeted by pro-Palestinian student activists, who vandalized his home last winter in a protest they said was against UC financial investments tied to Israel and its war in Gaza. Sures accused students of turning their focus on him because he is Jewish. The vandalism led to Frenk suspending the official student group status of two Students for Justice in Palestine organizations.

The 2023 Israel-Hamas war has been at the center of ongoing activism and controversy at UCLA, including a pro-Palestinian encampment that grew in spring 2024 and was violently attacked April 30 and May 1 of that year.

The Trump administration, in lawsuits against UC and in letters to UCLA, has argued that those student activists were antisemitic. Last year, it used those arguments to rescind more than $500 million in research grants and demand a $1.2-billion fine from the university.

The grants were later restored by a federal court order and, in a separate case, the terms of the fine were blocked. UC President James B. Milliken has said the university is open to talks with the Trump administration but will "never compromise" on its independence, governance, values and academic freedom.

The university has also faced suits from pro-Israel Jewish students and faculty as well as pro-Palestinian students for how it has responded to protests related to Israel and Gaza.

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This story was originally published April 24, 2026 at 4:38 PM.