Jerusalem:

Israel’s president on Thursday slammed US universities for campus unrest over Israel’s war in Gaza, saying these institutions were “contaminated by hatred and anti-Semitism”.

Isaac Herzog said in a special broadcast that he was issuing an urgent message of support to Jewish communities amid a “dramatic resurgence in anti-Semitism and following the hostilities and intimidation against Jewish students on campuses across the US in particular”.

“We see prominent academic institutions, halls of history, culture, and education contaminated by hatred and anti-Semitism fuelled by arrogance and ignorance,” he said.

“We watch in horror as the atrocities of October 7th against Israel are celebrated and justified.”

His comments came as hundreds of police and protesters were in a tense stand-off at the University of California, Los Angeles and unrest over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza continued to spread in campuses across the United States.

Demonstrators have gathered in at least 30 US universities since last month, often erecting tent encampments to protest the soaring death count in the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed at least 34,596 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

It comes in response to Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

The operatives also took about 250 hostages, 129 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 presumed dead, Israel says.

The protests against the war have posed a challenge to US university administrators trying to balance free speech rights with allegations of criminal activity, anti-Semitism and hate speech.

In his statement Thursday, Herzog said his message was addressed “to our friends on campuses and in Jewish communities across the United States and all over the world”.

“The people of Israel are with you. We hear you. We see the shameless hostility and threats. We feel the insult, the breach of faith and breach of friendship. We share the apprehension and concern,” he said.

“In the face of violence, harassment and intimidation, as masked cowards smash windows and barricade doors, as they assault the truth and manipulate history, together we stand strong,” he said.

“As they chant for intifada and genocide, we will work — together — to free our hostages held by Hamas, and fight for civil liberties and our right to believe and belong, for the right to live proudly, peacefully and securely, as Jews, as Israelis — anywhere.”

Pointing to Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations next week, the Israeli president said “we will speak of the dark times of the past, and we will remember the miracle of our rebirth”.

“Together, we shall overcome,” he said. “In the face of this terrifying resurgence of anti-Semitism: Do not fear. Stand proud. Stand strong for your freedom.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

The United States is sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean “to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war following Hamas’s attack,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Saturday.

The USS Eisenhower and its affiliated warships will join another carrier group already deployed to the region in the wake of the attack on Israel a week ago and Israel’s ongoing response.

The deployment signals Washington’s “ironclad commitment to Israel’s security and our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war,” Lloyd Austin said in a statement.

A week of deadly Israeli salvos was sparked by a Hamas raid which saw fighters break through the heavily fortified border between the Gaza Strip and Israel and gun down, stab and burn to death more than 1,300 people.

In Gaza, health officials said Israel’s response had killed more than 2,200 people. As on the Israeli side, most of them were civilians.

The United States has sent munitions to Israel and warned other countries not to escalate the conflict.

The same day as the announcement of the second carrier deployment, President Joe Biden underscored US support for efforts to protect civilians amid the Israeli siege and bombardment of Gaza in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“President Biden affirmed his support for all efforts to protect civilians,” the White House said in a statement about the call, which did not specifically mention the enclave.

Biden also spoke Saturday with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmud Abbas for the first time since hostilities broke out, condemning “Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel.”

“Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination,” Biden told Abbas, according to a White House statement about the conversation between the two leaders.

 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)