A Palestinian-American billionaire has resigned from the Harvard Kennedy School’s Dean’s Council after families of Oct. 7 victims filed a lawsuit against him, alleging that he had aided and abetted Hamas, the New York Post reported on Thursday.
Harvard confirmed to the Post that Masri resigned from the council, which according to the school’s website provides “financial support and practical advice” to “advance positive change at the local, state, national and international levels so people can live in societies that are more safe, free, just and sustainably prosperous.”
“The lawsuit raises serious allegations that should be vetted and addressed through the legal process,” a spokesperson for the school said.
More than 200 American family members of Oct. 7 victims filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday, alleging that Masri and his companies knowingly worked with Hamas in developing business properties in Gaza that concealed and provided electricity to the terror group’s elaborate, militarized tunnel network.
The plaintiffs include Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, whose son Moshe was killed in action in the Gaza Strip in November 2023, and the family of Omer Neutra, who died in Gaza on the day of the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, after being taken hostage by Hamas, which continues to hold his body.
Masri was also reportedly a close advisor to Adam Boehler, a Trump administration special envoy who conducted unprecedented direct negotiations with Hamas in March, and provided Boehler with private jet travel to Qatar for the talks, per Israeli media reports.
The office of the Palestinian-American business mogul denied the allegations against him and his companies in a statement to JNS on Monday and said that he would seek their dismissal in court.
“Neither he nor those entities have ever engaged in unlawful activity or provided support for violence and militancy,” Masri’s office stated.
