Alan Dershowitz calls anti-Israel protesters the 'Nazis of our age,' but defends their free speech

Harvard Law School Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz called the anti-Israel protesters the "Nazis of our age" on Thursday. "These are the Nazis of our age," Dershowitz said on the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show, later adding that they did have a right to protest.

He said that while the anti-Israel protesters have a right to free speech, the Biden-Harris administration should not be applauding them. 

"The Democratic administration is putting its imprimatur behind these protesters," Dershowitz said. "I believe in the right to protest. I believed in the rights of Nazis to protest."

"But the president of the United States and the vice presidential candidate should not be praising them," he added. "That's outrageous. Can you imagine them praising the Ku Klux Klan or praising racists or Nazis? That's who these people are."

Anti-Israel protesters have been making headlines for demonstrations across college campuses since the Israel-Hamas war began. 

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris's running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has been criticized by pro-Israel individuals for saying that some of the pro-Palestinian protesters had some good points. 

“We need to continue, I think, to put the leverage on to make sure we move towards a two-state solution,” Walz said during a Michigan event, according to The Washington Examiner.  He added that the war in Gaza was a humanitarian crisis for the Palestinians living there. 

"I think we’re at a critical point right now. We need the Netanyahu government to start moving in that direction. But I think those folks who are speaking out loudly in Michigan are speaking out for all the right reasons," he continued. 

Harris got some criticism from the right for skipping Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress last month and instead attending a sorority function. Netanyahu later met separately with the vice president, who urged him to reach a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. 

Dershowitz argued that Harris violated her constitutional obligation to attend Netanyahu's address to Congress. Multiple left-leaning members of Congress have had issues with Netanyahu, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calling him a "war criminal."

Dershowitz recently left the Democratic Party over issues of free speech and the left's hostility towards Israel.  "A new left wing, progressive.....woke Democratic Party, which is why I no longer can be associated with that party," he said. "I'm not a Republican. I'm an independent. but I am no longer a Democrat."