The president of a prominent pro-Israel group denounced Vice President Kamala Harris for supporting protests over the Gaza war on college campuses.

Harris became the early favorite to capture the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee on Sunday, when President Joe Biden announced he was ending his bid for reelection.

Student protests over the Gaza war — which began after Hamas terrorists’ Oct. 7 invasion in Israel — occurred on many college campuses toward the end of the school year.

The students called for universities to separate themselves from companies advancing Israel’s military efforts in Gaza and in some cases from Israel itself.

“It is unconscionable that anyone – and especially the vice president of the United States – would endorse any of the Arab Islamist criminality; violence; intimidation; attacks against police; attacks against students and faculty; and the disruption of learning,” Zionist Organization of America National President Mort Klein said in a statement.

“Notice: Harris does not say that she rejects any of their actions – she only disagrees with some of what the anti-Jewish extremists have said – and she does not specify which of their canards and attacks she agrees with. This is extremely dangerous coming from the second-most influential person in America’s government and someone who is just ‘one heartbeat from the presidency.’”

Klein referenced Harris’ quoted in The Nation this month after the vice president was asked about Gaza.

“They [the protesters] are showing exactly what the human emotion should be, as a response to Gaza. There are things some of the protesters are saying that I absolutely reject, so I don’t mean to wholesale endorse their points. But we have to navigate it. I understand the emotion behind it,” Harris told the outlet.

Even before Biden stepped aside as the nominee, Klein called on Harris to “publicly condemn the violence, the hatred-incitement and hostile environment these anti-Jewish extremists have brought to America’s campuses.”

“Furthermore, Vice President Harris must state clearly that it was the Palestinian Arab Muslims who attacked, slaughtered, raped and kidnapped Israelis on Oct. 7, and that it was they who provoked Israel to defend her people and territory,” Klein said.

“Harris must condemn the misinformation that has confused many young Americans, as well as those responsible for the propaganda and lies that are pervasive on the campuses and in the media.”

As non-profit and non-partisan organization, the Zionist Organization of America does not endorse support for nor opposition to candidates for elected office.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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