By Brynn Gingras and Brad Lendon, CNN
New Haven, Connecticut (CNN) — Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered at Yale University Tuesday night to protest an upcoming visit from Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. The far-right minister is expected to give a speech Wednesday to Shabtai, a Jewish society for Yale students that is not officially affiliated with the Ivy League school.
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 demonstrators in the plaza chanted, “The people united will never be defeated” and “Palestine will be free,” according to video clips of the protest.
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 notice.
An Instagram account called @yalepalestineactions called for additional protests Wednesday but it’s not clear whether there are any organized demonstrations scheduled.
Ben Gvir’s speech Wednesday night is expected to happen at Shabtai, an esoteric society at Yale where graduate and undergraduate students meet weekly for dinner and special guest lectures at an off-campus mansion.
The self-described Global Jewish Leadership Society has hosted former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci and US Sen. Cory Booker, who helped co-found the society as a Yale Law student in 1996, according to its website.
Mitchell Dubin, a Yale senior and member of the Shabtai Society, told CNN he looks forward to Ben Gvir’s visit “in the spirit of open discourse.”
“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,” Dubin 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 Carolyn Sung contributed to this report.
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