Arday backed Palestine; man behind witch hunt believes in racial hierarchy and supports Israel

Online scrutiny has turned towards pro-Israel academic Nathan Cofnas, whose intervention helped propel allegations against the late Cambridge professor Jason Arday into the national spotlight. Social media users have uncovered  his controversial views on race and along with his outspoken support for Israel.

Following Arday’s death, users on X have circulated screenshots of comments attributed to Cofnas concerning Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory, alongside his well-documented description of himself as a “race realist”.

Describing the public furore over the death of Arday one commentator on X said: “A Jewish Zionist academic – Nathan Cofnas, who was suspended due to his promotion of ‘hereditarianism/race realism’ – the kind of racial superiority ‘science’ that claims Black people are inherently ‘BIOLOGICALLY’ less intelligent than white people, was responsible for the jealous rage-filled media dog pile on Jason Arday”.

A Jewish Zionist academic – Nathan Cofnas, who was suspended due to his promotion of “hereditarianism/race realism” – the kind of racial superiority “science” that claims Black people are inherently “BIOLOGICALLY” less intelligent than white people, was responsible for the… https://t.co/3qHGnhYgob

— Dr. Sabreena Ghaffar-Siddiqui (@sabreenaGS) August 15, 2026

Another widely shared thread highlights a post attributed to Cofnas in which he states: “There’s no way for Israel to avoid occupying or tightly controlling the Palestinian territories.”

A man at the centre of the Jason Ardy story is Nathan Cofnas, a “race realist”, and a Zionist who: supports the idea of the illegal state of Israel; that occupying the Palestinian Territories as necessary for security; seeking to justify the use of white phosphorus in Gaza; 1/2 pic.twitter.com/wBmQCzbgwr

— Zillur Rahman (@ZillRah7) August 15, 2026

Another screenshot circulating in the same thread attributes to Cofnas the argument: “There is nothing wrong with inherently occupying territory based on historical claims,” adding that Jews are “the oldest extant distinct group of people with claims to this piece of land”.

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The posts have generated scrutiny of the political views of a figure who became closely associated with the controversy surrounding Arday.

Cofnas has publicly described himself as a “race realist” and has promoted what he calls a “hereditarian revolution”. In his usage, race realism refers to the belief that differences in outcomes between racial groups, including differences involving intelligence, are partly explained by inherited biological differences rather than solely by discrimination, environment or social conditions.

In his own published writing, Cofnas has challenged the idea that racial groups possess equal distributions of innate cognitive ability.

Cofnas has also argued that under what he considers a genuinely colour-blind meritocratic system, Black representation at elite institutions would decline dramatically. Cofnas wrote that Black people would “disappear from almost all high-profile positions outside of sports and entertainment” and predicted that the proportion of Black professors at Harvard would approach zero.

These views previously generated significant controversy at Cambridge. Emmanuel College ended its association with Cofnas after concluding that his statements conflicted with its values, although Cambridge University later determined that complaints against him fell within protections for lawful freedom of expression.

Footage of  Cofnas saying “After the revolution, I’ll be the head of the dept of eugenics & race science at Harvard,” is also circulating online.

Nathan Cofnas who “broke” the story about Jason Arday.

He says Arday gave him the chance for a story to retaliate for being fired & start a “revolution” against Black people in academia.

“After the revolution, I’ll be the head of the dept of eugenics & race science at Harvard’. pic.twitter.com/vL713qkx7v

— Lewis (@L_A_D_J) August 15, 2026

The contrast with Arday’s own position on Palestine has also attracted attention.

Arday publicly supported an academic campaign challenging the suppression of Palestinian scholarship.

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In August 2025, Arday was listed as a signatory to a statement condemning Harvard Education Publishing Group’s cancellation of a special issue of the Harvard Educational Review dedicated to Palestine and education.

The statement accused the publisher of suppressing discussion of the “genocide, starvation and dehumanisation” of Palestinians and warned of a wider effort to silence Palestinian voices and scholarship.

More than 700 academics and education professionals ultimately backed the statement.

Arday’s name appeared among the initial signatories in his capacity as professor of sociology of education at Cambridge University.

The contrast between Arday’s support for Palestine and Cofnas’ belief in racial hierarchy as well as his endorsement of the Zionist state of Israel, has become a prominent feature of the discussion now unfolding online.

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