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Aggressive protesters shut down the former prime minister of Israel’s talk at Princeton University on Monday night through repeated disruptions, including setting off a fire alarm that forced the event to end prematurely.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett drew a large crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters, many of whom chanted loudly outside the event, while another 20 audience members walked out in the middle of his talk, chanting “Naftali Bennett, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide,” the Princetonian reported.

“Outside the building, about 200 pro-Palestine protesters chanted, screamed and banged on drums in a display of their dissatisfaction at the decision to host the former Israeli prime minister,” according to the student newspaper. At another point, two men stood up and started yelling death tolls at Bennett, it added.

The protesters accused Bennett of being a “wanted war criminal.”

 

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A post shared by American Muslims for Palestine – NJ (@amp_newjersey)

Bennett’s stop “coincides with the deportations, detainments, and disappearances of students at these same campuses by the Trump administration for protesting Israel’s war on the Palestinian people,” protest organizers stated on Instagram.

Maximillian Meyer, president of Princeton Tigers for Israel, is demanding President Christopher Eisgruber apologize for allowing the protest to turn the event into chaos.

In a letter to the campus president, Meyer stated the “sustained disruption and illegal activity forced the premature conclusion” of the event.

He urged the university to enforce New Jersey state law and its own policies prohibiting such behavior.

“Throughout the evening, masked anti-Israel agitators engaged in a coordinated campaign to impede Mr. Bennett’s remarks,” Meyer wrote.

“Early in the event, a large group of Princeton students stood up and shouted down the former prime minister,” he wrote. “Five minutes later, Mr. Bennett was again shouted down by an attendee; instead of swiftly apprehending and removing this individual, Princeton administrators stood by for several minutes and neglected their duty to uphold Princeton’s free speech regulations.”

The event was shut down when a protester pulled the fire alarm about 10 minutes later, he wrote.

According to the Princetonian, even after the event there were heated exchanges.

“Around 20 people coming out of the event then gathered along the … side of the buffer zone fence, and some protesters and attendees got into verbal confrontations, with individuals on both sides of the fence hurling charged insults and accusations. The environment was notably more tense than previous protests, with arguments between protesters and attendees lasting for over 30 minutes following the event,” the newspaper reported.

Disruptors at @Princeton shouted at, pulled a fire alarm on, and walked out of former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s speech yesterday. We’re starting to sound like a broken record, but event disruptions are not free expression! pic.twitter.com/m7dYg3fvVv

— FIRE (@TheFIREorg) April 8, 2025

Weighing in on the controversy, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression condemned the disruptions.

“We’re starting to sound like a broken record, but event disruptions are not free expression,” the free speech organization stated on X.

“Speaker shout downs send the message that certain points of view can’t even be discussed on campus. This harms the ability of the university to host debates, educate its students, and welcome diverse perspectives.”

Editor’s note: Quotes by Maximillian Meyer were corrected regarding his letter to the president of Princeton. 

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IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Protesters employ a heckler’s veto to disrupt the talk of former Israeli prime minister at Princeton on April 6 / AMP New Jersey Instagram screenshot

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