'It's a punch in the face,' students protest former Israeli Prime Minister visit to UT

AUSTIN, Texas — Pro-Palestinian advocates gathered at UT Austin Tuesday night to express their outrage that Israel’s former prime minister was invited to speak at the LBJ Library.

“This notion of inviting one of the most prominent politicians who is known to have a very controversial past, serves to fuel the students,” said Matthew, a UT Austin student.

Naftali Bennett was invited by Texas Hillel to speak at the LBJ Library as part of a nationwide campaign to bring attention to unrest in the Middle East.

The presence of the controversial figure brought hundreds of protestors to the campus.

“The university doesn’t have a boundary,” said UT Austin student, Jenna, “It is proudly showing that they will host talks in support of genocide.”

More than 11,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7th, 2023, after a deadly attack by Hamas prompted Israel to declare war.

In 2018, ‘The Times of Israel’ reported, that Bennett said he is in favor of a ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy on the border of Gaza, even when it involves children.

“I’m very disgusted,” said Matthew, “I’m Palestinian myself so this hits close to home.”

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Less than an hour into Tuesday’s protest, units with the Texas Department of Public Safety arrived, giving a sense of deja vu to protestors.

“Knowing the events that happened last semester with the whole mass arrests that happened at the [South Lawn], I feel like this is kind of a punch in the face to the students,” said Matthew.

In April, hundreds of people were arrested during pro-Palestine protests after Governor Greg Abbott sent DPS troopers to campus.

“The administration at UT knows what [inviting Bennett] means to the students,” said Matthew, “I feel like this is very intentional and as a student, I feel it’s our duty to make sure that our voices are heard.”

CBS Austin reached out to UT Austin for comment, in a statement they said in part, “We had over 60 free speech events last academic year and the vast majority occurred without incident.”

“It’s more important than ever to make sure that they know that we have our voices and we will continue to have our voices,” said Jenna.

As of Tuesday night, CBS Austin has not received reports of any arrests made during this protest.

CBS Austin reached out to the LBJ School of Public Affairs for comment, but we have not heard back.