After several days of intense anti-Israel protests on Ivy League campuses, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a speech about these incidents in the United States. The leader of the Likud party lashed out at what he described as "an antisemitic wave" in a public speech on Wednesday.
"Antisemitic mobs have taken over leading universities," said the Israeli prime minister. "They call for the annihilation of Israel, they attack Jewish students, they attack Jewish faculty. This is reminiscent of what happened in German universities in the 1930s. It’s unconscionable. It has to be stopped. It has to be condemned unequivocally," Netanyahu added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
"What’s happening in America’s college campuses is horrific. Antisemitic mobs have taken over leading universities. They call for the annihilation of Israel. They attack Jewish students. They attack Jewish faculty. pic.twitter.com/ZuoeAUyP2s
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) April 24, 2024
The Israeli leader called for the prevention of these demonstrations continuing on the campuses of universities such as Columbia and Yale. "When you listen to them, they say not only ‘Death to Israel’ and ‘Death to the Jews,’ but also ‘Death to America,’" Netanyahu said.
The climate at American universities has been especially tense since last weekend, a large group of students and activists camped on the Yale University campus. Similar events occurred at Columbia University, and in both cases the intervention of law enforcement was required. At Columbia, campus authorities decreed that classes would be held remotely for a few days and that the campus would remain closed to calm things down.
Several spokespeople for the Jewish communities at Columbia and Yale called on Jewish students and professors to act with caution, since nothing could guarantee their safety. Some attacks and alleged hate crimes were reported to authorities.
