Prominent Wall Street law firm hires professional background check group to screen for anti-Israel protesters

A prominent Wall Street law firm has hired professional background checkers to discern whether job applicants participated in campus anti-Israel protests, according to a report.

Sullivan & Cromwell, whose clients have included Goldman Sachs, Google, Amazon and Tesla, says recent law graduates applying for a job at the firm could be disqualified for their participation in the anti-Israel protests that plagued college campuses in the aftermath of October 7, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

"People are taking their outrage about what’s going on in Gaza and turning it into racist antisemitism," Joseph Shenker, senior chair at Sullivan and Cromwell, told the outlet.

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The 145-year-old firm brought in an outside background check group, HireRight, to scrutinize the applicants' social media pages and closely examine news reports, photos and footage from demonstrations to discern their involvement, according to the Times. Actions or statements deemed unacceptable will prompt questioning where applicants will be asked to detail their role, including what actions they took to stop other protesters from making offensive or harassing comments, the Times states.

Shenker told the publication that Sullivan and Cromwell will not consider candidates who expressed explicitly antisemitic views or who are found to have participated in demonstrations where protesters chanted slogans that are known to be widely "triggering" to Jews. He provided "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," as an example of an offensive phrase, which mirrors a Hamas mantra that calls for the destruction of Israel.

Shenker, who was visiting Israel at the time of the Hamas massacre, said applicants will be flagged even if they didn't use such language but were involved in a demonstration where their peers did, telling the Times that the protesters should be held accountable for those around them to avoid embracing a "mob mentality."

While Sullivan & Cromwell is the first law firm on Wall Street to publicly announce a policy of this nature surrounding anti-Israel protesters, heads of four other prestigious Wall Street firms are quietly considering enforcing a similar policy, the Times reported.

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In October, global law firm Davis Polk rescinded job offers to three students who led organizations at their respective universities, Harvard and Columbia, that signed on to open letters criticizing Israel after the country was attacked by Hamas terrorists.

"What’s happening here is really just the implementation of basic work force decency standards," David Polk chairman Neil Barr told the Times.

The Times cited critics who argued that political activism is a "part of your identity" and that the policy, which they perceive as an effort to quash anti-Israel criticism, is flawed by putting all anti-Israel protesters in the same group as the ones who harassed and intimidated Jewish students.

Shenker said Sullivan & Cromwell will not ask applicants for privately expressed views. The Times said the firm maintains that its position is an extension of workplace prohibitions on hate speech.

In November, Shenker spearheaded a letter calling on law schools to better address and combat students and campus organizations promoting support for Hamas. The letter was signed by over two dozen Wall Street law firms and included a warning about students' future employment.

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The law firms were explicit they would not tolerate the kind of antisemitism displayed on some campuses and urged the deans to "provide your students with the tools and guidance to engage in the free exchange of ideas, even on emotionally charged issues, in a manner that affirms the values we all hold dear and rejects unreservedly that which is antithetical to those values."

At the same time, a group of 13 U.S. federal judges appointed by former President Trump vowed not to hire law school students and undergraduates from Columbia University due to the school’s handling of the anti-Israel protests that ultimately led to radical agitators taking over a building on campus.

Jewish students have reported feeling threatened and targeted on campuses following anti-Israel protests and encampments that appeared to support and cheer on the Hamas terrorist attacks that killed over 1,200. Many wealthy university donors have since announced that they would end their financial support for schools that failed to properly condemn antisemitic student behavior.  

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Sullivan and Cromwell did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.