Pro-Palestinian protesters confront Israeli National Security Minister as he leaves event near Yale

By Brynn Gingras, Brad Lendon, Carolyn Sung and Shimon Prokupecz, CNN

New Haven, Connecticut (CNN) — Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was confronted by pro-Palestinian demonstrators in New Haven, Connecticut, Wednesday night according to a statement and videos shared by his office.

“Water bottles were thrown” at Ben Gvir, his office said, when the far-right minister exited a building in front of protesters following a speech he gave at Shabtai, a private Jewish society at Yale, not officially affiliated with the university.

The videos show dozens of demonstrators shouting and chanting at the minister as he exits, smiling and waving at the protesters. “Minister Ben Gvir refused to leave the scene and made a V sign at them, as a sign of victory,” his office said.

Photos published on social media show a water bottle apparently being thrown at Ben Gvir and a group of people surrounding him.

In one video, what appears to be an item that was thrown is heard hitting the ground. People standing next to Ben Gvir shout “woah” as they realize items are being thrown.

Ben Gvir was not injured and is in “good health,” his office said.

In a separate video viewed by CNN, at least one person is seen being detained by police. CNN has reached out to New Haven police for comment and details about detainments or arrests.

Earlier Wednesday evening as the event began, protesters crowded the sidewalk outside the gated building while chanting “Free Palestine,” “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “Yale, your hands are red.” As attendees made their way into the venue, protesters yelled “shame” repeatedly and booed.

Mitchell Dubin, a Yale senior and member of the Shabtai Society, told CNN “Shabtai does not seek to legitimize or delegitimize world leaders. Instead, it provides a space where ideas are interrogated with rigor, policies are challenged with integrity, and civil discourse is preserved even under strain.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators also gathered at Yale University Tuesday night to protest Ben Gvir’s visit.

A Yale spokesperson told CNN an “unregistered group” of 200 people not “affiliated with any recognized student organization” gathered Tuesday and set up eight tents in Beinecke Plaza, a central square on Yale’s campus.

The group disbanded at 11 p.m. Tuesday after “university officials articulated Yale’s policies and the consequences of violating them” and offered a final warning, the Yale spokesperson said in a statement to CNN. Protesters were given cards with QR codes that linked to Yale University’s policies for peaceable assembly, such as keeping everyone physically safe, not blocking entrances and exits and no disruptions to the university’s operations.

Some students who were warned by campus officials in previous incidents that violated the school’s policy were given written notices and “are subject to immediate disciplinary action,” the spokesperson added, but wouldn’t say how many received the notices.

Tuesday’s protest came shortly after the group met with Yale officials to discuss recent campus policy violations and were “warned that further violations would jeopardize the group’s privileges,” the university said.

Yale is also investigating concerns about “disturbing antisemitic conduct at (Tuesday’s) gathering,” the university said in an updated statement Wednesday.

“Yale condemns antisemitism and will hold those who violate our policies accountable through our disciplinary processes,” the statement said.

A statement from Ben Gvir’s office said the protesters were there “in an attempt to prevent a speech by the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir – who was invited to speak at the venue.”

“The event is taking place against the backdrop of a round of diplomatic meetings that the minister is holding in the US, after speaking at President Trump’s mansion in the past 24 hours, and the day before at a meeting with Jewish communities in the US,” the statement said.

Ben Gvir – a far-right firebrand – has been public about his adoration for President Donald Trump, proudly extolling his plan to resettle Gazans outside of the Palestinian territory.

He quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in January because he was opposed to the ceasefire deal that saw the return of Israeli hostages from Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees. He only rejoined the government last month when Israel resumed its war in Gaza.

Ben Gvir has previously been convicted for supporting terrorism and inciting anti-Arab racism, and he was considered so extreme that the Israeli military rejected him from service. This is his first visit to the United States as national security minister.

Last October, a group of 90 congressional Democrats urged President Joe Biden to sanction Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, both of whom lead extreme nationalist parties within Netanyahu’s government. Ultimately, the Biden administration chose not to impose sanctions on Israeli government ministers.

Dozens arrested at Yale last year

The new protest on the New Haven campus comes exactly a year after 45 protesters were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing when they refused orders to leave Beinecke Plaza, part of a wave of demonstrations across US campuses last spring amid the war in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel by Hamas.

As part of their support for Palestinians in Gaza, protesters at the Yale campus demanded the university get rid of investments in businesses with connections to Israel’s military effort there.

In recent weeks, another Ivy League university, Harvard, has been at the forefront of the Trump administration’s effort to stop campus protests, contending they are examples of antisemitism.

The Trump administration is demanding Harvard give it access to all university reports on antisemitism and anti-Muslim bias on campus generated since October 2023, as it ramps up a confrontation with the school that risks billions in federal money amid a broader push to bring elite US colleges in line with its political demands.

CNN’s Oren Liebermann and Taylor Romine, Diego Mendoza, Eugenia Yosef, Martin Goillandeau and Hanna Park contributed to this report.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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