School District Votes to Display Israeli Flags to Combat Antisemitism

The Beverly Hills Unified School District narrowly voted this week to require Israeli flags be displayed at every school and district facility each May, part of a broader resolution aimed at combating antisemitism and strengthening Jewish heritage education.

The measure, passed by a 3–2 board vote on Tuesday, mandates that campuses will display the Israeli flag for the duration of Jewish Heritage Month. It also adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, requires Holocaust Remembrance Day and International Holocaust Remembrance Day to be taught with age-appropriate lessons, and establishes October 7, the date of Hamas’s 2023 attacks on Israel, as an annual day of remembrance.

The vote sparked deb`ate among parents and board members. “Does any flag of a foreign nation belong on a public school facility here in Beverly Hills? Of course not,” parent Andrea Grossman told CBS News.

Board president Rachelle Marcus and member Amanda Stern cast the two dissenting votes. Marcus cited security risks associated with flag displays, while Stern objected to embedding the flag of another country in district policy.

District officials emphasized that the Israeli flags will not be flown on flagpoles alongside the U.S. and California state flags. Instead, they will be displayed in other areas of school campuses.

Supporters said the resolution was crafted as a response to rising antisemitism in the United States. Beyond the flag requirement, the policy underscores Jewish contributions to society, formalizes commemorations tied to Jewish history, and incorporates Holocaust education into the academic calendar.

The board’s decision puts Beverly Hills among the first U.S. school districts to explicitly require the Israeli flag’s display as part of its anti-hate education agenda.