U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism

A number of high-profile incidents targeting the Jewish community in 2022, such as rapper Kanye West's Holocaust denial and praise of Adolf Hitler, led to increased calls for public policy actions to confront rising antisemitism in the United States. On December 5, 2022, 125 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, both Republicans and Democrats, sent a letter to President Biden calling for a whole-of-government interagency task force to confront antisemitism, led by an assistant secretary. At a U.S. Senate hearing in November, FBI Director Chris Wray and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas had previously expressed support for a national strategy to combat antisemitism.[2]

The following day, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff hosted a roundtable on antisemitism at the White House with representatives from Jewish organizations such as the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, American Jewish Committee, National Council of Jewish Women, Anti-Defamation League, Agudath Israel of America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.[3]

The White House subsequently announced on December 12 the formation of the Interagency Policy Committee on Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Related Forms of Bias and Discrimination coordinated by the Domestic Policy Council and the United States National Security Council to "address antisemitism and other forms of religious bigotry." The group's first task would be a national strategy to combat antisemitism.[4]

The plan offers four core pillars designed to address the leading threats to Jews today. The first pillar is aimed at increasing awareness and understanding of antisemitism. This component contains an increased emphasis on Holocaust education, and President Biden requested that Congress approve his $73 million budget, which will be used to bolster the Department of Education's civics and history courses.

The plan's second pillar seeks to improve the security and safety of Jewish communities through increased security funding and promotion of better dialogue between law enforcement and Jewish community leaders. The third pillar strives to reverse the “normalization” of antisemitism, particularly on social media platforms. The administration proposes that social media companies create clear terms of service that have no tolerance for any form of hate speech targeted at Jewish people. The fourth component of the plan encourages solidarity among members of different faiths, minorities, and sexual orientations, who have all been the targets of discrimination.[5] Over the course of the 60-page report, the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism goes into further detail about how its authors believe each of these pillars will have a positive effect on Jewish life in the United States.

The strategy was met with both praise and criticism from Jewish community leaders. Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt was pleased that the Biden administration initiative specifically addresses antisemitism from online sources and on college campuses – and that it recognizes threats from both the far left and far right.[6] More than thirty Jewish organizations, including AIPAC, B'nai B'rith International, and the JCC Association of North America, voiced their support of the Biden administration's plan as they remarked in a joint statement: “In an era of rising antisemitism in the U.S. and around the world, we appreciate the clarity and urgency demonstrated by the White House in releasing its National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism.”[7]

Criticism of the plan included “muddying the water”[8] of a single standard to define antisemitism by not only forcefully embracing the IHRA working definition of antisemitism (widely accepted by more than 40 countries),[9] but also “welcome[ing] and appreciate[ing] the Nexus Document and note[ing] other such efforts.”[10] Chief operating officer of the World Jewish Restitution Organization, Mark Weitzman, referred to the ambiguity of definitions as,“divert[ing] attention away from finding the problem and into debating definitions.”[11] Criticism of the Nexus Document includes the claim that it allows individuals to conceal antisemitism through anti-Zionist tropes without facing any consequences.[12] More than 175 Jewish groups, including the American Jewish Committee, Jewish Federations of North America, and the World Jewish Congress, crafted a letter to members of the U.N. contending that any inclusion of antisemitic definitions other than IHRA would harm efforts to combat antisemitism.[13] Groups like StopAntisemitism.org were particularly critical of the Biden administration's inclusion of the Nexus Document as they feel it “flies in the face of the plan’s assertion that 'If we cannot name, identify, and admit a problem, we cannot begin to solve it.”[14] Louis D. Brandeis Center founder Kenneth L. Marcus offered a mixed assessment of the plan, remarking that “It will come as a relief to some that the strategy forcefully embraces IHRA, and yet it’s disappointing that they nevertheless acknowledge and commend Nexus. Much of the language of the document is far more consistent with IHRA than with Nexus….It’s just unfortunate that they muddle what would otherwise have been a very good discussion of definitions by praising a definition inconsistent with their approach.” [15] Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin also offered a mixed assessment. She declared the plan “demonstrates that [the Biden administration] take[s] anti-Semitism seriously. . .that it's not just a Jewish problem, but one that needs to be addressed by the entire society” – yet Lewin also said the document was undermined by embracing Nexus: “Targeting Jews based on their connection to the state of Israel is just as antisemitic as targeting them based on their Sabbath observance. Both are components of their Jewish identity.[16]

One other point of criticism aimed at the Biden administration's handling of antisemitism comes from a recent “dear colleague” letter published by U.S. Department of Education Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon.[17] While the letter itself aims to reinforce the importance of Executive Order 13899 signed by former President Trump which “reaffirms the long-standing principle that anti-Semitism and discrimination against Jews based on an individual’s race, color, or national origin may violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,”[18] the letter is not an official announcement of a regulation aimed at protecting Jewish students like the administration has promised. Some seem skeptical of whether the White House intends to issue a major regulation at all, as one critic argues that this “dear colleague” letter “retreats from the White House’s longstanding commitment to issue regulations strengthening the civil rights protections of Jewish students.”[19]

In June 2023, the American Jewish Committee announced a new task force to assist the White House in the strategy's implementation.[20]

• Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism