By Nick Gale, WLS News

(CHICAGO) Trustees at the University of Illinois have approved a $600,000 settlement with a professor who lost his job over a string of anti-Israel comments made online.

The university also will pay $275,000 to Steven Salaita’s attorneys to end a 14-month dispute. The U of I has already spent some $1.3 million in legal fees over a lawsuits that Salaita filed after he lost a tenured faculty position.

In return Salaita will drop a lawsuit against the university claiming they breached a contract and violated his free speech rights. Salaita will not be hired by the university.

After accepting a job with the university in 2014, questions were raised because Salaita had been posting about the Israeli government and its military actions in Gaza. In one tweet he wrote: “Let’s cut to the chase: If you’re defending #Israel right now you’re an awful human being.” The university withdrew the job offer, prompting the lawsuit.

@ 2015 WLS News