President Isaac Herzog has canceled an in-person commencement speech at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, the chancellor of the flagship Conservative institution said, after some students and alumni accused Herzog of having incited violence against Palestinians.

In a May 12 letter shared Thursday by JTS, Chancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz, Herzog said he could not attend the May 19 ceremony because of unspecified “circumstances that prevent my travel to New York at this time,” the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported.

Rubin Schwartz said Herzog, who was set to receive an honorary degree at the ceremony, would address the gathering virtually and would be awarded the degree in person at a later date.

Writing in the Forward, Rubin Schwartz also decried what she described as the “public media spectacle” that ensued after six members of the graduating class privately wrote to top JTS officials to object to Herzog’s selection last month as commencement speaker. The letter received the support of several other JTS students and alumni, including four rabbinical students, she said.

“As too often happens in such circumstances, the letter was shared more widely, without the students’ prior knowledge or consent,” Rubin Schwartz said. “This was dismaying to several of the students, who had intended to hand-deliver it to me to spark conversation.”

“The authors were publicly criticized,........

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