Jolynda Wang, Contributing Photographer

The Yale College Council Senate on Sunday did not pass a proposal to issue a public statement calling for Yale to release a “formal statement of accountability” for its involvement in a 2023 donation to a pro-Israel group.

The proposed YCC statement would have also called for Yale to end further donor-advised distributions of donated funds to organizations implicated “in genocide, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, or other human rights violations.” Senators ultimately voted 12-12 on the proposal with 3 abstentions. YCC Vice President Jalen Bradley ’27, who could cast a tie-breaking vote, abstained, ultimately causing the proposal to fail.

It came in response to Yale Endowment Justice Collective identifying on Instagram that Yale donated $1 million to Friends of the  Israel Defense Forces, or FIDF, a nonprofit organization that funds aid for Israeli combat soldiers and veterans according to its website. A Yale spokesperson previously confirmed that Yale distributed the funds at the discretion of a donor in November 2023, a month after Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel that initiated the ongoing war in Gaza.

In an email to the News, Hassaan Qadir ’26, the main sponsor of the proposal, wrote that he introduced it to convey student concerns with the administration’s decision.

“If Yale wants to stand for all its students, the least it can do is acknowledge this mistake and refuse future donations to organizations implicated in human rights violations,” he wrote.

During the 30-minute debate on the statement at the Sunday senate meeting, the chamber could not reach a consensus on the role of the YCC in political issues. Qadir and some senators said that the YCC has a responsibility to take public political stances. Other senators argued that the YCC should stay within its main commitments to student life and culture.

“I believe that as the YCC, as a represented body of the student ideal, we have an obligation to make these topics come to a decision and then make a statement to condemn this,” Qadir said during the meeting. “It’s an obligation for every senator to really think about what they think is in the best interest of Yale and the students.”

Joseph Elsayyid ’26, a senator from Davenport College, supported Qadir in his characterization of the YCC. 

“Student push to change Yale policy is exactly what we’re the conduit to do,” he said. “That is our entire job.”

Benjamin Barkoff ’27, a senator from Trumbull College, said that condemning Yale’s donation is not within the YCC purview and is a “waste of time” because it is not likely to change the policies of the Yale administration. 

“Our job is to have fun food truck fests, create stipends and do fun things,” Barkoff said. “It’s not about virtue signaling, saying that we condemn this when we have no power over this.”

He added that the YCC should focus on things that directly impact the everyday life of the student body. 

Sahra Wahedi ’27, a senator from Pierson College, pushed back directly against Barkoff. She cited last year’s divestment referendum as proof that a majority of the student body supports condemning Yale’s investments in military weapons manufacturers. In the fall of 2024, a YCC referendum found that 76.6 percent of 3,338 respondents believed Yale should divest its holdings in weapons manufacturers. 

“That already in it of itself says that senators should care about the issue and should stand in support of the students,” Wahedi said. “You are elected here to represent students of your college, not you or what you think about the issue.”

Saniya Mishra ’28, a senator from Branford College, said that a public statement by the YCC could invite national attention and lead to cuts in federal funding. 

“Right now, it has been a politically tumultuous time. Yale has been safe, under the radar. I do not want to end up like our other peer institutions,” she said. “President McInnis has already said that student financial aid could be impacted, and that is not something that I want to put out this year.”

Santiago Giraldo ’28, a senator from Branford College, critiqued the contents of the resolution.

“I would be in favor of a whole different resolution if it were to establish standards of morality as to when Yale should divest or when Yale should invest,” he said. “But I feel like this doesn’t really do that.”

Henry Liu ’28, a senator from Morse College who is also a staff reporter for the News, said that now condemning a donation that took place in 2023 would not make sense. He said that at the time of the donation, “public opinion was very much sympathetic to Israel” because it was made directly following Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks. 

“Yale making that donation at that time did not cause and should not have caused any major outrage,” Liu said. “Part of me thinks that this statement is just way behind the time. It happened two years ago. Why are we putting something about it out now?”

In response to this concern, Elsayyid said that the donation was “revealed rather dramatically” and incited “student pushback.”

When debate concluded, Alex William Chen ’28, speaker of the YCC Senate, announced that voting would be conducted anonymously to “protect students from threats of doxxing.” According to the YCC Constitution, the official voting process is a roll call vote.

Elsayyid pushed back against the unconventional method of anonymous voting. He said that the purpose of the constitutional procedure is for “accountability.” 

“This whole procedure is a big charade,” Elsayyid said.

Chen said in an email to the News after the meeting that there is precedent for anonymizing votes on a referendum dealing with similar political topics.

“As Speaker, this above all preserves the paramount duty I have to senators: ensuring they, like any student, feel comfortable and safe to express their conscience without fear of personal harm,” Chen wrote.

In the first round of voting, senators tied in a 12-12 vote with 3 abstentions. In an instance of a tie, the YCC vice president, Bradley, could cast a tie-breaking vote.

However, Bradley abstained, and the proposed statement failed with 12 against, 12 in favor and 4 abstentions.

In an email to the News, Bradley said he “abstained to respect the differences in opinion” and “keep the legislation open for future reconsideration.”

The YCC was founded in 1972.

Correction, Oct. 13: An earlier version of this article mischaracterized Barkoff’s argument. Barkoff said the proposed statement would be not likely to change Yale policy; he did not say it would be likely to change Yale policy. The article also misstated the YCC’s voting procedure in the case of a tie. The YCC vice president was able to cast a tie breaking vote. He was not required to.