Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir gestures as he faces pro-Palestinian activists in the U.S. Capitol on April 28, 2025.

Washington, April 29 (RHC)-- Far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir faced a tense reception at the U.S. Capitol, as pro-Palestinian protesters confronted him with chants of “free Palestine” and “war criminal.”

Ben-Gvir concluded his first official visit to the United States at the Capitol building on Tuesday.  He was met by fierce opposition at the building, with protesters shouting at him, “Shame on you!” and “Free, free Palestine!”

He later wrote in a post on X that he held “important meetings with senior Congress members who expressed their full support for Israel.”

On Tuesday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, called for the expulsion of the Israeli minister, who has called for the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians in Gaza.

“Ben-Gvir is a racist, a war criminal and a coward who should be in The Hague,” CAIR said in a statement, referring to the International Criminal Court (ICC), whose official seat is in The Hague, Netherlands.

“He and his far-right government have caused the death and injury of more than 52,000 Palestinians in Gaza – mostly women and children – and has forcibly starved and ethnically cleansed almost the entire population.”

“We call on members of Congress to refuse to engage with him, and we call on the United States to expel him,” it added.

Last week, CAIR called on “people and institutions of conscience” across the United States to refuse to engage with Ben-Gvir, following his controversial remarks that  senior U.S. Republicans had supported his call to bomb food storage facilities in the Gaza Strip.