Ousted Iran deal negotiator to teach Yale class on Israel-Palestine conflict despite ongoing FBI investigation

Robert Malley, a Biden administration official who was embroiled in controversy while working as Special Envoy to Iran, is set to teach a course on the Middle East at Yale University.

The syllabus for the class, which is titled “Contending with Israel-Palestine,” says the course will take “an in-depth look at important questions surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” according to Yale Daily News.

Malley, who is now a senior fellow at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs, will be using source material from figures including former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir and former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, though he acknowledged that he “[i]nvariably left many [perspectives] out,” wrote Yale Daily News.

The Yale professor had previously admitted that “[m]y father felt close to Arafat,” wrote Jewish Currents.

Malley said he “will invite students to suggest other readings as the semester progresses” and, speaking of the timing of the course, said: “In the wake of Oct. 7, I questioned whether it still made sense or whether it would be best to wait. Ultimately, I concluded, in coordination with the School, that it had become even more important to try to create an environment where students could learn more about this topic and engage with others in thoughtful, respectful conversations,” as appeared on Yale Daily News.

In the summer of 2023, Malley was put on leave of absence from his State Department job and had his security clearance temporarily taken away following claims he had potentially mishandled classified data, as reported by the Associated Press.

The controversy was followed by an FBI investigation of Malley’s conduct, wrote CBS.

Malley played a key role in negotiating the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (commonly known as the “Iran Deal”) as well as in attempting to restart the deal following former U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the agreement, reported CNN.

Yale has found itself in other controversies related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Campus Reform reported that roughly 200 Yale students took part in a walkout “which featured protestors denouncing the school’s ‘complicity in genocide and war crimes’” on Jan. 16.

Campus Reform also wrote on Jan. 24 that the Department of Education “has opened an investigation into Yale University after several Jewish students were reportedly denied entrance into a panel discussing the Israel and Hamas war sponsored by the school.”

Malley also currently holds a teaching position at Princeton University, reported Jewish Insider.