Hundreds of people gathered to protest a visit by a controversial Israeli government official in New Haven Wednesday night.

Itamar Ben-Gvir was met with boos from protesters as he entered an event hosted by the Shabtai Society, a group not affiliated with Yale University but has student members.

Mitchell Dubin, a member of Shabtai, said in a statement that hosting Ben-Gvir is not an act of endorsement.

“Shabtai does not seek to legitimize or delegitimize world leaders. Instead, it provides a space where ideas are interrogated with rigor, policies are challenged with integrity, and civil discourse is preserved even under strain,” the statement reads.

Dubin said Ben-Gvir was invited to speak “in the spirit of open discourse and out of a deep love for the State and People of Israel.” It’s his first visit to the U.S. as Israel’s national security minister.

Pro-Palestinian protesters said he’s not welcome in New Haven.

“If you want to engage in that kind of conversation, choose someone less controversial,” Andrew Rice, of Milford, said. “Do not choose someone who is actively pushing the button to slaughter innocent Palestinian lives.”

Ben-Gvir is part of the Zionist movement which advocates for a Jewish state in Israel. He has been convicted for supporting terrorism and inciting anti-Arab racism.

A group of Jewish people from New York made the trip to New Haven to protest Ben-Gvir’s visit.

“He puts a yarmulke on his head and he says that he’s religious, as if he’s speaking in the name of a godliness, of some Jewishness,” Yisroel Dovid Weiss, a rabbi with Neturei Karta International, said.

Eric Woodward, the rabbi of Beth El-Keser Israel synagogue in New Haven, was also part of the protest. He said the event is divisive, as many are hoping for an end to the Israel-Hamas war that started in October 2023.

“He is a dangerous person who does not represent Jews,” Woodward said. “And we do not want him in this country.”

The protest started on the sidewalk but spilled into the street, so police closed off the street to traffic. The event also had security and police dogs in and around the building.