The White House condemned the anti-Israel agitators who descended on Washington, D.C., Wednesday in protest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress.
“Identifying with evil terrorist organizations like Hamas, burning the American flag, or forcibly removing the American flag and replacing it with another, is disgraceful,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a comment to Fox News Digital Wednesday evening.
“Antisemitism and violence are never acceptable. Period. Every American has the right to peaceful protest. But shamefully, not everyone demonstrated peacefulness today.”
ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS STAGE MASSIVE PROTEST IN WASHINGTON, DC, AMID NETANYAHU’S US VISIT
U.S. Park Police officer points her pepper spray can at a demonstrator during a pro-Palestinian protest on the day Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill, in Washington, U.S., July 24, 2024. (REUTERS/Seth Herald)
Hundreds of pro-Hamas protesters gathered in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday where they were seen lighting American flags on fire, scrawling graffiti outside Union Station and chanting “Allahu Akbar.”
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators burn an effigy depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, outside Union Station, on the day of Netanyahu’s address to a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill, in Washington, U.S., July 24, 2024. (REUTERS/Nathan Howard)
Agitators at Union Station, which is located near the U.S. Capitol, burned an American flag and vandalized a statue with the words “Hamas is coming.” They also removed American flags and replaced them with Palestinian flags instead.
Netanyahu delivered an address to Congress on Wednesday amid his nation’s war against Hamas, which has raged since October. Amid his remarks, Netanyahu tore into cease-fire demonstrations that have played out across the U.S. since the war began.
HARRIS BOYCOTTS NETANYAHU, SNUBS ISRAELI LEADER’S WARTIME ADDRESS TO GIVE SORORITY SPEECH
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress (Getty Images)
“I have a message for these protesters. When the tyrants of Tehran, who hang gays from cranes and murder women for not covering their hair, are praising, promoting and funding you, you have officially become Iran’s useful idiots,” Netanyahu said.
REPUBLICANS SLAM HARRIS FOR OPTING OUT OF NETANYAHU ADDRESS IN FAVOR OF SORORITY SPEECH: ‘SHAMEFUL’
Pro-Palestinian protesters burn a US flag at Union Station on July 24, 2024 during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the US. Netanyahu slammed Gaza ceasefire demonstrators and called for a global alliance against the Iranian regime he accuses of funding them, as he addressed a US Congress divided by the war. (MATTHEW HATCHER/AFP via Getty Images)
“Some of these protesters hold up signs proclaiming gays for Gaza. They might as well hold up signs saying ‘Chickens for KFC.’ These protesters chant ‘From the river to the sea.’ But many don’t have a clue what river and what sea they’re talking about.”
President Joe Biden boards Air Force One at Dover Air Force Base, in Dover, Del., Tuesday, July 23, 2024. Biden is returning to the White House from his Rehoboth Beach home after recovering from a COVID-19 infection. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
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The White House’s condemnation of the agitators comes just ahead of President Biden addressing the nation following him bowing out of the 2024 race amid mounting concerns over his mental acuity.