Scandal at the Shalem Center
A mysterious break-in, embezzlement, nepotism, extremist pasts, lavish spending, internecine fighting, editorial dishonesty, fastidiousness in stapling — these are among the many allegations mentioned in a Ha’aretz exposé about the Shalem Center, the influential Jerusalem-based neoconservative-leaning think tank.
The Shalem Center, while leaning decidedly to the right, can claim credit for publishing some of the more interesting intellectual work in the Jewish world today, from its excellent journal Azure to the publications it has sponsored on a number of American college campuses. And its prestige, as Ha’aretz notes, has attracted a number of leading Israeli thinkers who are definitely to the center’s left.
It will be interesting to see how the center responds to this report. One thing is certainly undeniable: Shalem Center publications are very nicely designed. (Read the full Ha’aretz article, and you’ll get the joke.)
Hat tip: Richard Silverstein’s Tikkun Olam blog.
UPDATE: The Shalem Center responds.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 2
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
- 3
Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
- 4
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward In first Sunday address, Pope Leo XIV calls for ceasefire in Gaza, release of hostages
-
Fast Forward Huckabee denies rift between Netanyahu and Trump as US actions in Middle East appear to leave out Israel
-
Fast Forward Federal security grants to synagogues are resuming after two-month Trump freeze
-
Fast Forward NY state budget weakens yeshiva oversight in blow to secular education advocates
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.