Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday called for a crackdown on Americans protesting against Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza at college campuses across the United States.
“What’s happening in America’s college campuses is horrific. Antisemitic mobs have taken over leading universities,” Netanyahu said. His comments echoed President Biden, who labeled the demonstrations “antisemitic protests.”
At some American universities, police have arrested and dispersed protesters, but Netanyahu said more should be done. “Now, fortunately, state, local, federal officials, many of them have responded differently but there has to be more. More has to be done,” Netanyahu said.
Israeli Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid also called for a crackdown on the protests. “What’s happening on American college campuses is unforgivable,” he wrote on X. “It is antisemitism, it is support for terrorism, it is support for Hamas which murders LGBT people and oppresses women. The administration cannot stand by, it has to intervene.”
Texas state troopers broke up a protest at Texas University in Austin on Wednesday and reportedly arrested at least 10 students. The protesters were demanding that the university divest from manufacturing companies that supply weapons to the Israeli military.
Israel supporters in the US have also falsely labeled the demonstrations across the country as “antisemitic,” but many Jewish students are involved in pro-Palestinian activism on college campuses, including at the protest at Columbia University. Netanyahu took the smear a step further and claimed the protesters wanted to “kill Jews.”
“We see this exponential rise of antisemitism throughout America and throughout Western societies as Israel tries to defend itself against genocidal terrorists, genocidal terrorists who hide behind civilians,” Netanyahu said.
