The Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday condemned pro-Palestinian protests at universities in the United States as “horrific”, saying the demonstrations “have to be stopped”, as he categorized students as antisemitic.

There’s been rising tensions at campuses across the US as demonstrations began last week after students at Columbia set up encampments calling for the university to divest from weapons manufacturers with ties to Israel. The protests have led to mass suspensions and arrests of hundreds students in New York, Texas and California.

The US is Israel’s close ally and top provider of military assistance.

“What’s happening in America’s college campuses is horrific,” Netanyahu said in a statement, echoing concerns voiced primarily by supporters of Israel over the safety of Israeli or Jewish students and faculty as the protests intensify.

Some have pointed to antisemitic incidents and argued that university leaders are enabling intimidation and hate speech.

“Antisemitic mobs have taken over leading universities,” claimed Netanyahu.

“They call for the annihilation of Israel. They attack Jewish students. They attack Jewish faculty,” he said.

“It’s unconscionable. It has to be stopped.”

He argued the “response of several university presidents was shameful” and said more needed to be done.

“What is important now is for all of us, all of us who … cherish our values and our civilisation, to stand up together and to say, ‘enough is enough’,” Netanyahu said.

Universities have become the focus of intense cultural debate in the US since Hamas’s 7 October attack and Israel’s overwhelming military response, as a humanitarian crisis grips Gaza. Joe Biden has called the prime minister’s handling of the response “a mistake”.

So far, Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 33,000 people, mostly women and children, according to local health authorities. The Hamas attacks in Israel which triggered the war killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and 250 were taken as hostages, according to Israeli sources.