President Biden’s White House on Thursday condemned what it called the “grotesque” and “poisonous” rise in antisemitism displayed at many American college campuses in recent days by pro-Hamas students angry over the war in Israel. In a statement to the Times of Israel, the deputy press secretary, Andrew Bates, said a “disturbing pattern” is emerging in protests about the war.

“Just over the past week, we’ve seen protests and statements on college campuses that call for the annihilation of the State of Israel; for genocide against the Jewish people,” Mr. Bates told the newspaper in Israel. “Jewish students have even had to barricade themselves inside buildings.”

“Delegitimizing the State of Israel while praising the Hamas terrorist murderers who burned innocent people alive, or targeting Jewish students, is the definition of unacceptable — and the definition of antisemitism,” he said.

The statement is the most forceful yet from the White House about the alarming increase in antisemitism displayed on university campuses. Asked about it during a press briefing earlier this week, the White House press secretary, Karine Jean Pierre, said the president has clearly denounced any sort of hate-fueled violence, but quickly shifted the conversation away from Jewish students, stating that “muslims and those perceived to be Muslim have endured a disproportionate number of hate-fueled attacks.”

Since the war in Israel began October 7, college students across the country have marched to protest the war and, at times, praise “the resistance” of Palestinians in Israel. During one incident at George Washington University Tuesday, a group of students projected phrases such as “Glory to Our Martyrs” and “Free Palestine from the River to the Sea” on a library building at the campus in Washington, D.C.

Wednesday night, videos appearing on social media showed Jewish students at another campus, Cooper Union College in New York City, barricaded inside a library while a mob of pro-Hamas protesters banged loudly on the doors and chanted anti-Israel slogans.

 “These grotesque sentiments and actions shock the conscience and turn the stomach,” Mr. Bates’ Thursday statement said. “They also recall our commitment that can’t be forgotten: ‘Never again.’”