Calls grow to remove Netanyahu from high school Hall of Fame
2 Min Read
The controversy unfolds as alumni association officials prepare for a closed-door meeting with school district leaders to discuss the student petition.
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Israeli occupation prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to reporters before a meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol in Washington, on July 9, 2025 (AP)
Recent comments by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Fox News commentator Mark Levin about Cheltenham High School, their shared alma mater in the Philadelphia suburbs, have sparked intense controversy.
Netanyahu drew strong global reactions earlier this month when he announced at the White House his nomination of President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Though that announcement received little attention, his suggestion during the US visit to propose a different, more locally meaningful honor has stirred tensions about 150 miles north of Washington, D.C.
In a Fox News interview aired Saturday with Levin, Netanyahu said, “Next time I’m here, we go down to Cheltenham High School, near Philadelphia, and I’ll nominate you for the hall of fame."
Earlier in the interview, the two reflected on their shared connection to Cheltenham High. Netanyahu (class of 1967) lived there for several years while his father taught at a local Jewish college; Levin (class of 1974) was born and raised nearby. Netanyahu is already in the school’s Hall of Fame, while Levin is not.
In Cheltenham, a racially and religiously diverse Philadelphia suburb, the televised remarks have intensified debate over whether either man deserves recognition from their alma mater.
In many ways, this controversy not only mirrors the broader national divide over "Israel’s" war on Gaza and President Trump’s leadership, but it also raises more complex questions about fame versus honor, evolving reputations, and hometown heroes who don’t always inspire affection, issues that resist simple partisan framing.
The controversy unfolds as alumni association officials prepare for a closed-door meeting Friday morning with school district leaders to discuss a student petition calling for the removal of Netanyahu’s photo from the Hall of Fame.
The meeting will also focus on planning a November ceremony to honor more than six Hall of Fame inductees, excluding Levin. The association is expected to address the controversy sparked by the Fox News interview, where Levin claimed the alumni group “won’t vote me in.”
“Well, they haven’t kicked me out yet,” Netanyahu added. “Great achievement.”
