On April 23rd 2025, Holocaust Memorial Day, Shabtai, The Jewish Society at Yale, hosted Israeli Cabinet Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir at the Anderson Mansion for dinner and conversation with the Yale community.
Outside the Mansion, a few hundred local demonstrators surrounded the building whilst chanting antisemitic slurs and rallying for the terrorist group Hamas. Many threw bottles at the Parliamentarian and attendees, and shamelessly threatened the lives of the Yale students. Protesters were arrested and an investigation is ongoing.
The protest drew unprecedented media coverage from the Yale Daily News, New Haven local Press, CNN, The NYT, The Guardian, The Atlantic Monthly, Israeli Press outlets, and countless others. Millions of views were generated on social media.
The banquet was attended by 100 Yale Students and 30 members of the Yale faculty who engaged in uninterrupted peaceful discourse for two hours. Hence, the Yale community was afforded the opportunity to engage civilly with a leading member of The Israeli Government.
Shabtai remains one of the few spaces at Yale, and the Country at large where free speech is celebrated regularly and respectfully.
We thank Dr. Lawrence Gelman for making the event possible.
This film is sponsored by David Schechtman.