By Alexandra Ulmer
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told Jewish donors on Thursday that U.S. universities would lose accreditation and federal support over what he described as “antisemitic propaganda” if he is elected to the White House.
“Colleges will and must end the antisemitic propaganda or they will lose their accreditation and federal support,” Trump said, speaking remotely to a crowd of more than 1,000 Republican Jewish Coalition donors in Las Vegas.
Protests roiled college campuses in spring, with students opposing Israel’s military offensive in Gaza and demanding institutions stop doing business with companies that support Israel.
Republicans have said the protests show some Democrats are antisemites who support chaos. Protest groups say that authorities have unfairly labeled their criticism of Israel’s policies as antisemitic.
The Association of American Universities, which says it represents some 69 leading U.S. universities, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the United States, the federal government does not directly accredit universities but has a role in overseeing the mostly private organizations that give accreditation to colleges.
In his speech, Trump also said he would ban refugee resettlement from “terror infested” areas like Gaza and arrest “pro-Hamas thugs” who engage in vandalism, an apparent reference to the college student protesters.
Under both Trump and Biden, similar numbers of Palestinians were admitted to the U.S. as refugees. From fiscal year 2017-2020, the U.S. accepted 114 Palestinian refugees, according to U.S. State Department data, compared with 124 Palestinian refugees from fiscal year 2021 to July 31 of this year.
While Trump sketched out few concrete Middle Eastern policy proposals for a second term, he painted a potential Harris presidency in cataclysmic terms for Israel.
“You’re going to be abandoned if she becomes president. And I think you need to explain that to your people… You’re not going to have an Israel if she becomes president,” Trump said without providing evidence for such a claim.
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Trump’s speech.
Harris has hewed closely to President Joe Biden’s strong support of Israel and rejected calls from some in the Democratic Party that Washington should rethink sending weapons to Israel because of the heavy Palestinian death toll in Gaza.
She has, however, called for a ceasefire in Gaza, calling the situation there “devastating.”
Health authorities in Gaza say more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli assault on the enclave since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas.
Some 1,200 Israelis were killed in Hamas’ surprise attack and about 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
The subsequent assault on Gaza has displaced nearly its entire 2.3 million population, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies.
(Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer. Additional reporting by Ted Hesson and Kristina Cooke; Editing by Alistair Bell)
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