Sullivan & Cromwell, a prominent Wall Street law firm, is implementing a new policy to screen out job applicants for those who condemn the ongoing Palestinian genocide.
- The firm is now said to be using the third-party background check company, HireRight, to review applicants’ involvement in pro-Palestinian groups and protests. According to the New York Times, this is done by “scouring applicants’ social media and reviewing news reports and footage from protests.”
- Sullivan & Cromwell, who lists Goldman Sachs and Amazon as just some of its clients, considers commonly used protest slogans, like “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” to be unacceptable.
- Candidates could face scrutiny even if they weren’t directly using so-called “antisemitic” language but were present at protests where others did. The company also screens out people who may have engaged in pro-Palestine activities off campus.
- Despite being a pro-Israel and ostensibly Zionist institution, Sullivan & Cromwell blurs political lines with Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion initiatives aimed at “infusing” diversity in “everything that they do.”
Between the lines: Joseph C. Shenker, the Senior Chair at Sullivan & Cromwell, argues that this policy extends the company’s existing “hate speech” prohibitions.
- Shenker—who is Jewish—seeks to prevent applicants who exhibited “explicit instances of antisemitism as well as statements and slogans it has deemed to be ‘triggering’ to Jews.”
- Shenker believes it is his company’s right to hold those with a “mob mentality” responsible for “racist antisemitism” while echoing the widely unpopular belief that criticism of Israel is an overtly antisemitic act.
- The move to screen out anti-Zionist dissent appears to have been long in the making. In a 2023 interview with the American Lawyer, Shenker claims he was in Israel during the October 7th raid and had been whisked away into a bomb shelter. He then stipulated that those now “supporting Hamas” lacked “critical thinking skills” and did not belong at his firm.
- “We send out a memo each year that we have a tolerant and respectful work environment,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we are going to say if these students were involved in these organizations that they can’t be here. But we are asking people to pay them a lot of money for their critical thinking skills. If their critical thinking skills land them in that place [blaming the victims of the terror for the terror], then they have no place here.”
Why it’s important: As Israel’s bloody and legally fraught war on Gaza continues into 2024, those who oppose the regime in Tel Aviv continue to face repression and attacks from nearly every major American institution.
- Critics of Sullivan & Cromwell’s new policy view it as an attempt to silence criticism of Israel by discriminating against those purely based on their political beliefs.
- While Sullivan & Cromwell is one of the first to implement the Zionist policy to protect Jewish feelings at the firm, four other elite Wall Street law firms are reportedly considering adopting similar rules.
- On Tuesday, Mark Zuckerburg’s Meta announced it will remove any and all posts made to Facebook or Instagram containing the word “Zionist,” pending a screening process by moderators.
Have a story? Please forward any tips or leads to the editors at [email protected]
