GOP leaders vow 'action' as Columbia University swarmed by anti-Israel agitators

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Columbia student on ‘disgusting, disgraceful’ anti-Israel campus demonstrations: 'Jews don't feel safe'

Columbia student Xavier Westergaard shares how he feels about returning to class for a new semester amid a growing anti-Israel protest on campus.

House Republican leaders are vowing to push back on anti-Israel protests that are once again taking over college campuses as students return for the fall semester.

It comes as activists have already begun defacing property and staging demonstrations at Columbia University in New York City, which was a hotbed of controversial activity in the spring.

"There should be a zero tolerance policy for antisemitic violence on campus that targets Jewish students. If universities won’t hold protestors accountable, Congress will," Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital. "Just last month, we subpoenaed several Columbia University officials, and we will continue our investigations and take action on the floor as students return to campus."

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House GOP leaders like Steve Scalise, Mike Johnson and Elise Stefanik are coming out against the anti-Israel protests at Columbia. (Getty Images)

GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., similarly said, "Columbia University has repeatedly enabled radical pro-Hamas mobs, putting Jewish members of their community at risk and allowing antisemitic hate to take root at a once acclaimed institution. House Republicans will use every tool at our disposal to demand immediate action from Columbia University on behalf of the Jewish students who want to pursue their education without fear."

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital, "It’s no wonder the pro-terrorist mob is back at Columbia — the Democrats have enabled and empowered the antisemites in their party."

Emmer said House Republicans would "continue to send a resounding message" of support for Israel and for Jewish students in the U.S.

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People are seen falling to the ground during a scuffle at Columbia University during the anti-Israel protests on Thursday, Sept. 3. (Fox News)

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., meanwhile, urged the White House to speak out against the protests as well.

"It is the first day of class at Columbia University and the pro-Terrorist, antisemitic mob is already back," Johnson wrote on X. "The Biden-Harris Administration should condemn this mob immediately."

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for a response.

At least one protester was arrested during the Manhattan demonstrations on Tuesday, video shows. Footage also shows activists pushing barricades, and a second person was taken into custody outside of Columbia’s sister school, Barnard College.

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Anti-Israel demonstrations continued in New York City Tuesday on Columbia University's campus. (AP/Yuki Iwamura)

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Republicans have seized on Israel as a unifying issue for their own party as the left continues to fracture over U.S. relations with its close Middle Eastern ally.

Moderate Democrats, however, have pointed to the primary losses of anti-Israel progressives as proof that the left is capable of policing its own anti-Semitism problem.