(Jewish Group) The Time Has Come for a Domestic Anti-Semitism Czar in the U.S.

Anti-Semitism continues to be on the rise in the United States, which does not have a domestic anti-Semitism czar in the White House. The recent unprecedented wave of violent assaults targeting Jews on the streets of our cities, with almost 200 anti-Semitic incidents reported during the recent Israel-Gaza conflict, makes the need for creating this White House position now more urgent than ever before.

In my term as deputy special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism at the State Department, I spent much of my time advocating with diplomats of foreign countries for best practices in fighting the world's oldest hatred. High on that list was the importance of every country having a point-person for the Jewish community to report any anti-Semitic incidents or attacks—but even more importantly, someone who can be held accountable for the policies that affect the safety and security of local Jewish communities.

More than once, while I was holding these conversations with my international counterparts, it occurred to me that we at home in the United States face the same rise in anti-Semitism as most other countries around the world. Yet we do not have our own domestic anti-Semitism czar.

That needs to change.

Within the Executive Office of the President of the United States, there should be an Office to Combat Domestic Anti-Semitism, led by the domestic anti-Semitism czar. This senior official should be given the authority and responsibility to coordinate a whole-of-government approach to dealing with domestic Jew-hatred. Such an effort would include bringing together the resources of the FBI, Department of Justice, Department of Education, Department of Homeland Security and the FCC. Together, these federal agencies can confront the totality of anti-Semitism in the United States, which emanates from right-wing white supremacist groups, left-wing anti-Zionist groups, radical Islamists and elsewhere.

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