Contemporary Antisemitism in the United States The Response of the Establishment in Israel

Key Findings:

The research question explored in this paper —what are the characteristics of the Israeli response to contemporary antisemitism in the US? — necessitates two considerations: who are the central actors in the Israeli establishment involved in combatting contemporary antisemitism; and what types of actions are these players initiating. This paper traces the approaches that guide this work over time, as well as milestones and functional gaps.

Many other states also task handling of diaspora communities and their development to government ministries or special agencies. However, Israel has embodied the solution for protecting not only its borders but also the entire Jewish people upon its very establishment, as seen by its mention of diaspora Jewry in its Declaration of Independence (1948). 

Global developments from the mid-1970s onward saw Israeli diplomacy begin to pressure the Soviet Union and other foreign territories to bring an end to official displays of antisemitism (handled at this point by several different government actors). In 1987 an inter-ministerial government forum to monitor antisemitism was proposed, and established in 1988 with involvement of the Jewish Agency for Israel, diaspora Jewry representatives and academic experts. Its main task in this context was to encourage diaspora Jews to make aliyah.

In 2004, on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Minister Natan Sharansky initiated the first special session of the Knesset to mark Israel’s National Day to Combat Antisemitism. At that session, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon emphasized cooperation between Jewish and non-Jewish organizations, and that “the State of Israel is the only guarantee we have that Jews can defend themselves, by themselves” (Knesset, 2004). In 2008, Israel ratified a resolution titled “Assistance to Jewish communities in the diaspora in situations of emergency or crisis,” which defined “crisis,” among other things by “displays of antisemitism”. This intention to budget for Israeli policy that affected Jews outside the state of Israel marked a turning point. 

The Israeli government continues to grow investment in resources to combat antisemitism and assume responsibility for diaspora Jewish communities, especially given the increasing exposure of Israelis to antisemitism on social media. In 2017, the government adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism. IHRA has become a crucial tool, as well as the subject of extensive dispute from its opponents.

Various foreign policy considerations regarding the state’s bilateral relationships have sometimes influenced Israel’s approach to dealing with antisemitism (e.g., Prime Ministers Begin and Barak asking Abe Foxman of the ADL to refrain from broadly condemning antisemitism in Egypt at a time when Israel wished to promote political cooperation with the country; and more recently, Israel neither swiftly nor unambiguously condemning former US President Donald Trump’s weak response to the 2017 neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville).

Overt actors in the Israeli establishment involved in combating antisemitism include The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy, Ministry of Immigration and Integration (dealing with all aspects of aliyah), The Knesset (through the Committee for Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs), The President’s and Prime Minister’s Offices, The Ministry of Education, Yad Vashem, Jewish Agency for Israel, and the World Zionist Organization.

Analysis of the above’s activity highlights three central issues: Israel’s complex role in dealing with a phenomenon that occurrs outside its sovereign territory; collaboration (or lack thereof) among the many different players involved in the fight against antisemitism; and the quantification and measurements of efforts in this domain. The research interviews indicate a strikingly clear difference between Israel’s limited role against US antisemitism, and its role in Europe’s struggle and those elsewhere (where Jewish communities yearn for Israel’s help).