The Times of Israel is liveblogging Friday’s events as they unfold.
Trump claims deadly 2017 rally of white nationalists ‘was a little peanut’ compared to anti-Israel campus protests
Donald Trump claims the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, was “nothing” compared to ongoing anti-Israel campus protests, the latest instance in which he has downplayed a racist incident that was one of the most criticized moments of his presidency.
Speaking in a Manhattan courtroom hallway at the day’s end of his criminal hush money trial, Trump blames US President Joe Biden for student protesters who have set up encampments as they call for a ceasefire in the war Israel launched after Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught.
Biden has recently, as he often does, publicly brought up the Charlottesville rally that sparked his decision to run against Trump in 2020, where torch-wielding white supremacists marched to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, chanting “You will not replace us!” and “Jews will not replace us!”
“We’re having protests all over. He was talking about Charlottesville,” Trump says. “Charlottesville was a little peanut. And it was nothing compared — and the hate wasn’t the kind of hate that you have here.”
Trump has tried to pin reported instances of antisemitism around the campus protests to Biden. But in invoking Charlottesville, Trump again raised his history of courting extremists and his repeated refusal to disavow groups like the Proud Boys, some of whom would go on to participate in the attack on the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The Biden administration quickly condemned the comments. “Minimizing the antisemitic and white supremacist poison displayed in Charlottesville is repugnant and divisive,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates says.
Hundreds of white nationalists descended on the city on August 11 and August 12, 2017. Clashes between white nationalists and anti-racism protesters broke out both days, prompting authorities to declare the gathering on August 12 an “unlawful assembly” and to order crowds to disperse. It was after that announcement that a man rammed his car into a peaceful group of counter-protesters. One woman died; 35 others were injured.
Days after the deadly rally, Trump told reporters that “you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides.”
The anti-Israel protests that have swept across college campuses in recent days come as tensions rise in the US over the nation’s role in the Israel-Hamas war, particularly as deaths mount in Gaza. Several hundred have been arrested thus far.
Ilhan Omar visits suspended daughter at Columbia’s ‘anti-war encampment’
Squad Rep. Ilhan Omar is seen visiting her daughter during an anti-Israel protest at Columbia University.
A video uploaded to her Instagram account shows her greeting Isra Hirsi’s friends, including one Jewish pro-Palestinian activist wearing a yarmulke.
Hirsi was one of several students suspended after more than 100 anti-Israel protesters were detained by police last week at Columbia.
I had the honor of seeing the Columbia University anti-war encampment firsthand.
Contrary to right-wing attacks, these students are joyfully protesting for peace and an end to the genocide taking place in Gaza.
I’m in awe of their bravery and courage. pic.twitter.com/yC6hcBMwCP
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) April 25, 2024
Majority of Americans have little or no confidence in Netanyahu — poll
A slight majority of Americans (53 percent) have little or no confidence in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do the right thing regarding world affairs, including 25% who have no confidence in him at all, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
This compared to 21% of Americans who said they have some confidence in Netanyahu and 9% of Americans who said they had a lot of confidence. Fifteen percent of respondents said they had never heard of him.
The share of Americans who have no confidence in Netanyahu has increased 11 percentage points since 2023, including an 8-point increase in the share who have no confidence in him at all. In 2023, 26% of Americans said they had never heard of Netanyahu.
Fifty-one percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents have much more positive views of Netanyahu than Democrats and Democratic leaners (13%) do.
Older Americans are significantly more likely than younger ones to have positive views of Netanyahu, the survey says.
Pew surveyed 3,600 American adults between April 1 and April 7.
WCK workers killed in IDF strike memorialized at Washington National Cathedral ceremony
Celebrity Chef Jose Andres called seven aid workers killed by Israeli forces in Gaza “the best of humanity” on Thursday during a memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral that was attended by hundreds, and punctuated by grief and ongoing questions about the attack.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel mistakenly killed the seven people working for Andres’ charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) in an airstrike earlier this month, prompting worldwide condemnation and a demand by US President Joe Biden to make it easier to get aid into Gaza or risk a shift in US support.
Andres told Reuters in an interview earlier this month that the Israeli attack targeted them “systematically, car by car.”
At today’s service he praised each of the workers — Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, John Chapman, Jacob Flickinger, Lalzawmi Frankcom, James Henderson, James Kirby, and Damian Sobol — during an emotional eulogy, his voice cracking repeatedly.
“The seven souls we mourn today were there so that hungry people could eat,” he says, referring to residents of Gaza. “They risked everything to feed people they did not know.”
“They were the best of humanity. Their examples should inspire us to do better, to be better,” he says.
Andres says WCK continues to demand an investigation into the actions of the Israeli forces against its workers, and that the official explanation was not good enough.
“There is no excuse for these killings. None,” he says.
The service included readings and prayers from the Muslim, Jewish and Christian traditions and a musical tribute by renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
More than 500 people attended, including families of the victims, WCK staff, U.S. officials and diplomats from more than 30 countries, according to a WCK representative.
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff represented the White House, while Biden was traveling in New York.
Pro-Palestinian legal group files federal civil rights complaint against Columbia over arrest of anti-Israel protesters
A pro-Palestinian legal group has filed a federal civil rights complaint against Columbia University following last week’s mass arrest of anti-Israel protesters after the school called police to clear demonstrator encampments, the group says.
Palestine Legal, an organization that seeks to protect the rights of people in the US to speak out on behalf of Palestinians, urged the US Education Department to probe the school’s actions, which it alleges were discriminatory against those who are pro-Palestinian.
Columbia University declined to comment.
Last week, the university tried to shut down campus demonstrations by force when Columbia President Minouche Shafik took the unusual move of inviting New York City police to enter the campus. More than 100 people were arrested.
Protests have since continued at Columbia and spread to other US campuses where hundreds have been arrested in the last week.
US Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said earlier today he was following reports of allegations of antisemitism on college campuses. Earlier this month, a former Cornell University student pleaded guilty to posting online threats, including of death and violence against Jewish students on campus.
Second gentleman phones Hillel director, Orthodox rabbi at Columbia to express support amid anti-Israel protests
US Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff spoke earlier this week with Columbia University’s Hillel director along with an Orthodox rabbi affiliated with the school against the backdrop of the anti-Israel protests that have left many Jewish students there feeling unsafe.
During the calls with Hillel director Brian Cohen and Orthodox Union-JLIC Elie Buechler, “the second gentleman recognized that while every American has the right to freedom of speech and to protest peacefully, hate speech and calls for violence against Jews is both antisemitic and unacceptable,” according to a White House readout. “The conversations also focused on the immediate need to address antisemitism on college campuses.”
“The second gentleman emphasized that no student should feel unsafe on campus and offered his support on behalf of the administration,” the readout adds.
Buechler last week sent a message to Jewish students urging them not to come on campus over fears for their safety. Columbia Hillel took a different approach, telling students that it would remain open to serve them while urging the school to be more proactive in ensuring Jewish students’ safety.
USC cancels graduation ceremony after mass arrests at anti-Israel protest
The University of Southern California cancels its main stage graduation ceremony as college officials across the US worried that ongoing pro-Palestinian campus protests against Israel could disrupt May commencement ceremonies.
USC announces the cancellation of the May 10 ceremony a day after more than 90 protesters were arrested on campus. The university says it will still host dozens of commencement events, including all the traditional individual school commencement ceremonies where students cross a stage and receive their diplomas.
Tensions were already high after the university canceled a planned commencement speech by the school’s pro-Palestinian valedictorian, who has advocated for Israel’s eradication, citing safety concerns.
“We understand that this is disappointing; however, we are adding many new activities and celebrations to make this commencement academically meaningful, memorable, and uniquely USC, including places to gather with family, friends, faculty, and staff, the celebratory releasing of the doves, and performances by the Trojan Marching Band,” the university says in a statement.
The Los Angeles Police Department said more than 90 people were arrested Wednesday night during a protest on the campus for alleged trespassing. One person was arrested for alleged assault with a deadly weapon.