Cheltenham school leaders say no decision has been made on whether to remove Netanyahu from the high school’s Hall of Fame

Cheltenham school officials and the district’s alumni association met Friday and discussed a student petition seeking to remove Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from its Hall of Fame, but didn’t make a decision, a district spokesperson said.

“No determination has been made at this point,” said the spokesperson, Kevin Kaufman. He declined to comment on whether the district would continue to consider the request to remove Netanyahu, a 1967 Cheltenham High School graduate.

The New York Times reported Friday that Cheltenham’s alumni association received a petition last month signed by more than 200 students, calling for Netanyahu’s removal from the district’s hall of fame.

The petition cited the conservative Israeli leader’s indictment on corruption charges and the arrest warrant issued for him by the International Criminal Court, alleging war crimes in Gaza, according to the Times.

Kaufman confirmed that the association had received a student petition seeking Netanyahu’s removal, which spurred Friday’s discussion. He said he could not comment on the petition’s content.

Gail Hockstein Chase, the association’s president, also declined to comment. In a phone call Friday, Chase and other alumni association officers directed questions to Kaufman.

The debate comes amid ongoing tensions over the war in Gaza, which have been playing out around the Philadelphia region — including in Cheltenham, a liberal, racially diverse community with a significant Jewish population.

“We understand that this is a topic of deep concern to some members of our diverse school community as well as the broader public,” Cheltenham’s superintendent, Brian Scriven, said in a statement Friday. “Given the complexities involved and the heightened public discourse, we must proceed in a deliberate manner.”

Born in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu came to Cheltenham as a teenager while his father taught at Drospie College, a Jewish college that is now the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

Netanyahu attended Cheltenham High School, though missed his graduation ceremony in June 1967 to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces. He was inducted into the high school’s Hall of Fame in 1999.

Friday’s discussion with the alumni association centered on plans for a previously scheduled November ceremony inducting more alumni into the Hall of Fame, district officials said.

“The district is focused on ensuring all internal processes — from selection committee meetings to candidate evaluation criteria — are conducted fairly and consistently and with collaboration among all constituents," Scriven said in the statement.

Kaufman said he did not know if there was a formal process to strip someone of recognition in the Hall of Fame.

The Times reported that Friday’s meeting was also expected to address controversy stirred by conservative commentator Mark Levin in a Fox News interview with Netanyahu that aired Sunday — in which Levin, also a Cheltenham High graduate, said the school’s alumni association “won’t vote me in” to the Hall of Fame.

Kaufman said that Levin’s name was not mentioned Friday.