Columbia battles radical activists, limits entry to former Israeli leader’s visit as Trump weighs pulling $5B

More than 100 protesters gathered outside a Columbia University building Tuesday evening in response to an appearance from former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the university's student newspaper reported.

Columbia/Barnard Hillel, the School of International and Public Affairs’ Institute of Global Politics, and the Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life organized the event with Bennett in New York City.

"The discussion was an important part of our ongoing mission to empower our students to explore, learn, and grow intellectually," Brian Cohen, spokesperson for the Kraft Center, said in a statement to Fox News Digital about Bennett's visit. "The event proceeded without disruption. Unfortunately, the current campus dynamic forced us to make last night’s event open only to invited students."

Cohen added, "[S]tudents of diverse backgrounds and political leanings listened to a world leader and asked challenging questions – as one would expect at a world-class university."

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Anti-Israel protesters gather outside Columbia University's campus in New York City during former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's visit on March 4, 2025. (Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu)

Columbia JVP and the Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition co-organized the protest against the event, according to The Columbia Spectator. There have been countless anti-Israel demonstrations held on college campuses across the United States since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas first attacked Israel, sparking the beginning of a 15-month war that has left tens of thousands of people dead.

"The University coordinated with Columbia Hillel on Public Safety preparations for their event with former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, including with respect to any campus protest activity and to minimize potential disruptions to academic activities," Columbia University said in a Wednesday statement. "The event was well attended and took place without disruption or interference."

The school said "groups from outside" the "Columbia community also protested in public spaces outside the University’s gates, which the NYPD was responsible for managing."

"As always, we monitored to ensure activity on our campus was safe and complied with our rules and policies, including the immediate enforcement of policies to prevent discrimination or the targeting of our community members in any form," the school said.

Anti-Israel protesters gather near Columbia University on March 4, 2025. (Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu)

Three Barnard College students were recently expelled after breaking into Columbia's Hamilton Hall in April of last year. 

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"It is our duty to ensure that war criminals and genociders never feel welcomed on our campus, despite invitations from groups such as Hillel," Columbia University chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace (Columbia JVP) said in an Instagram post announcing a location for the protest.

The Instagram post includes photos of an email invitation for the event asking attendees to "minimize discussing this event with others" and describing their guest's identity as "confidential."

"The group of individuals who attempted to disrupt the event proved that this was a necessary precaution," Cohen said of the decision to make the event invite-only. "We’re thankful that, due to our careful planning, NYPD prevented the protesters from getting to the venue. At no point was our event impacted by the disruptions outside.

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"I look forward to the day when we can, once again, host important educational opportunities like this for the broader University community," Cohen said.

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Columbia University Jews for Ceasefire also issued a statement on Tuesday ahead of the protests, saying Barnard Hillel "deprived the vast majority of the student body an opportunity to engage in critical discourse with an elected official with true political power."

"This is at odds with CBHillel's repeated demands for a campus culture open to dialogue, especially given that this discussion is about the very issue that sparked such demands," the group wrote in its statement.

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The protest came after President Donald Trump said earlier this week that "Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests."

A crowd gathers outside Columbia University to protest a visit by former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on March 4, 2025. (Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu)

On Monday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Education (ED), and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced a review of Columbia's federal contracts and grants in light of recent anti-Israel protests "for potential violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act," according to an HHS press release.

The Federal Government’s Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is considering halting $51.4 million in federal government contracts to the university, HHS said. The task force will also review more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments to the Ivy League university.

"Anti-Semitism – like racism – is a spiritual and moral malady that sickens societies and kills people with lethalities comparable to history’s most deadly plagues," HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said in a Monday statement. "In recent years, the censorship and false narratives of woke cancel culture have transformed our great universities into greenhouses for this deadly and virulent pestilence. Making America healthy means building communities of trust and mutual respect, based on speech freedom and open debate."

Anti-Israel and pro-Israel demonstrators confront each other outside Columbia University on March 4, 2025. (Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu)

Hamas and Israel's recent ceasefire deal, which paused the deadly war, has led Hamas to release 10 Israeli hostages and five Thai nationals abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and increased humanitarian aid into Gaza. Six Americans remain in Gaza.

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More than 46,000 Palestinians have died in the war, half of whom are believed to be women and children, though that number could be higher, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. More than 90% of the roughly two million Palestinians living in Gaza were displaced during the war.

Fox News’ Alexis McAdams and Madison Colombo contributed to this report.