Washington, April 26 (RHC)-- The U.S. federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism has praised Yale University for its response to student protests opposing the visit of Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to New Haven this week.

Ben-Gvir was met with protests from pro-Palestine demonstrators when he visited the Connecticut city of New Haven to give a talk to a Jewish society for Yale students.

Yale accused the campus protest group, Yalies4Palestine, of briefly setting up an encampment on Tuesday and consequently withdrew its status as a registered student organisation.  Yalies4Palestine has denied it organized the protest.

The federal task force praised the college administration in a statement, saying they were “cautiously encouraged by Yale’s actions.”  “Yale University appears to have enforced its time, place, and manner policies, cleared the area, de-registered a student organization involved in the incident, and started an investigation into individual discipline for students who crossed the line from speech into unlawful conduct,” it said.

The Trump administration has taken aim at numerous U.S. colleges – threatening to withdraw federal funding, among other punitive measures – over pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses.

[ SOURCE:  REUTERS and NEWS AGENCIES ]