Numerous student organizations on California college campuses have voiced their approval of the joint military actions by the U.S. and Israel against Iran, even as Governor Gavin Newsom has condemned the operation as “illegal” and lacking “justification.”
The letter, endorsed by 120 student groups, states, “We extend our heartfelt gratitude and backing to the U.S. and Israeli service members facing challenging conditions. We align ourselves with these brave individuals and their families as they endeavor to dismantle terrorism infrastructure and ensure their nations’ security.”
Among the signatories are at least 26 groups from California, including those affiliated with the University of California and California State University systems — the latter being the largest public university system in the U.S. — as well as private institutions.
The organizations noted, “For nearly half a century, Iran’s ruling regime has favored regional instability and proxy conflicts over the welfare and hopes of its own populace.”
The list of supporters features a broad spectrum of groups, from national chapters like Students Supporting Israel at UC Berkeley and San Diego State, to campus-centric advocacy clubs such as Bruins for Israel at UCLA, Tritons for Israel at UC San Diego, and Trojans for Israel at USC.
Cultural and heritage-based organizations have also joined in, including the Persian Community Hillel at UCLA and UC San Diego, Mishelanu at UC Santa Barbara, and the Jewish Student Union at UC Santa Cruz. Backing also comes from key institutions across the state, with additional endorsements from groups at Stanford University, UC Davis, and multiple California State University campuses, including those at Northridge and Long Beach.
“President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s air campaign against the regime is necessary and long overdue. A democratic Iran is essential for the freedom and security of the free world,” Delilah Hirshland, a student at UCLA, told The Post. “I wholeheartedly support a free Iran,” she added.
The war began when a joint U.S.-Israeli operation killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28 in a targeted strike intended to topple the regime, according to U.S. and Israeli officials. The U.S. and Israel launched the war’s heaviest airstrikes on Iran Tuesday, moving the conflict into its third week. Earlier this month, President Trump said the U.S. has already inflicted serious damage and expects the fighting to end sooner than the four-week timeline he initially set.
The casualties of the war include a girls’ elementary school in Minab, Iran, allegedly hit by American missiles, killing dozens of children, along with U.S. service members who have also died in the conflict.
“We honor and remember the lives of the six brave U.S. service members who lost their lives in this war,” the student collective said in their statement. “We also acknowledge the significant impact of this war on the Gulf states and their citizens.”
Signatories outside of California include chapters at Ivy League and top-tier schools, such as Princeton’s B’Artzeinu, MIT Israel Alliance, Duke’s Israeli Public Affairs Committee, and Johns Hopkins’ Christians United for Israel, among others.
Many of these campuses, including NYU, University of Michigan, University of Texas, and UC Berkeley, were previously sites of major anti-Israel protests during the peak of Israel’s war in Gaza in 2024.
“A free Iran would make the world safer by ending a regime that supports terrorism and instability. It would allow the Iranian people to finally live with freedom and basic rights,” Maya Gerassi, a senior at San Diego State University, told The Post. “It would also reduce threats to Israel and the United States by weakening Iran’s network of terror proxies.”
The American public has largely opposed the U.S. war in Iran, according to several political analysts.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that only 27% of Americans support the conflict.
The New York Times reported Sunday that nearly 41% of Americans approve of U.S. intervention in Iran, a historic low compared with past conflicts — 97% during World War II, 92% during the war in Afghanistan, and 76% during the Iraq War.
