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We Must Implement the US National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism
US President Joe Biden delivers a prime-time address to the nation about his approaches to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, humanitarian assistance in Gaza, and continued support for Ukraine in their war with Russia, from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, US, Oct. 19, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/Pool
The White House released the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism last May in response to a dramatic increase in antisemitic incidents. No one could have foreseen that the strategy would be tested so soon by the response to the horrors of October 7.
In the wake of Hamas’ brutal attack, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, already surging rates of antisemitic incidents tripled nationwide.
According to FBI Director Christopher Wray, as of December 5, 2023, there had been a 60% year-over-year increase in reported hate crimes for the period after October 7. Most of that increase was driven by crimes against Jews.
The Secure Community Network (SCN) reported a 112% year-over-year increase in North American antisemitic incidents in 2023, the highest increase it has ever recorded. There was a record number of monthly antisemitic incidents in December 2023.
This is exactly the kind of situation that the National Strategy was designed to mitigate — but how is it being employed?
In August 2023, AJC created a Task Force to spearhead the implementation of the National Strategy. Since October 7, AJC has been in nearly weekly meetings with the White House or with the secretaries of Federal agencies. In every encounter, these officials speak about the National Strategy and the important tools it has afforded them in this dark moment.
This summer, AJC began working with the Small Business Administration (SBA), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and other agencies to implement the National Strategy, signing a Strategic Alliance Memorandum with SBA. Reflective of this work, Federal agencies issued rapid statements of support and solidarity shortly after the October 7 attacks. The USDA even helped organize groups of American farmers and volunteers to travel to Israel to harvest crops that otherwise would have withered.
AJC has been in constant contact with the Department of Education to relay its concerns, flag cases, and help make sure that antisemitic incidents are recorded. The Department’s Office for Civil Rights has specified that Title VI’s protection from discrimination based on race, color, or national origin extends to students who are or are perceived to be Jewish. The Department released an updated complaint form to make filing a complaint easier and pivoted its commitment to hold listening sessions in schools to have “interventions” with the most problematic educational spaces in America.
AJC’s CEO Ted Deutch made recommendations to the Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism on Capitol Hill in October. Since then, he has kept regular correspondence with Senators and Congressional representatives on both sides of the aisle, and has pushed them to fully implement the National Strategy and support Israel and the Jewish people.
Countering antisemitism is a whole-of-society effort. It requires all of us to act and make our voices heard. Indeed, the National Strategy does not just include action items for Federal agencies, it includes recommendations for every sector of American society.
As the first line of defense in many instances of antisemitism, local law enforcement must understand antisemitism and Jews. Our newest guide, designed for law enforcement, was released last month in partnership with SCN, the National Sheriffs’ Association, and the Major County Sheriffs of America, to ensure they do.
Here are a few steps we can take to ensure the safety and security of the Jewish people.
First and foremost, we can’t be shy about the antisemitism we experience. Whether it’s a potential hate crime, an incident of harassment at an educational institution, or an inciting post on social media, we must report it. Complaints drive data; data drives policy.
We must urge social media platforms to counter antisemitism and Hamas propaganda. After Hamas’ murderous pogrom and the accompanying increase in antisemitism, we all must address increased antisemitism online by implementing policy recommendations from the Call to Action Against Antisemitism, which have been echoed in the National Strategy.
Since October 7, there have been frightening levels of antisemitism on college campuses. We must urge university presidents to take proactive steps against antisemitism on campus by adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism, and taking concrete steps to protect Jews on campus, as recommended in the National Strategy.
IHRA’s Working Definition is the most concise, accurate, and globally recognized definition of antisemitism. It is a proven tool for recognizing and fighting antisemitism.
The National Strategy is a detailed, thoughtful document that dedicates a broad range of governmental and non-governmental resources to the fight against Jew hatred. It represents the most serious Presidential commitment to fighting antisemitism in history.
We have the toolkit. It’s time to use it.
Julie Fishman Rayman is the Managing Director of Policy and Political Affairs at the American Jewish Committee (AJC).
The post We Must Implement the US National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials
FILE PHOTO: The atomic symbol and the Iranian flag are seen in this illustration, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – Iranian and Iran-affiliated media claimed on Saturday that the Islamic Republic had obtained a trove of “strategic and sensitive” Israeli intelligence materials related to Israel’s nuclear facilities and defense plans.
“Iran’s intelligence apparatus has obtained a vast quantity of strategic and sensitive information and documents belonging to the Zionist regime,” Iran’s state broadcaster said, referring to Israel in the manner accepted in those Muslim or Arab states that don’t recognize its legitimacy. The statement was also relayed by the Lebanese site Al-Mayadeen, affiliated with the Iran-backed jihadists of Hezbollah.
The reports did not include any details on the documents or how Iran had obtained them.
The intelligence reportedly included “thousands of documents related to that regime’s nuclear plans and facilities,” it added.
According to the reports, “the data haul was extracted during a covert operation and included a vast volume of materials including documents, images, and videos.”
The report comes amid high tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, over which it is in talks with the US administration of President Donald Trump.
Iranian-Israeli tensions reached an all-time high since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent Gaza war, including Iranian rocket fire on Israel and Israeli aerial raids in Iran that devastated much of the regime’s air defenses.
Israel, which regards the prospect of the antisemitic mullah regime obtaining a nuclear weapon as an existential threat, has indicated it could resort to a military strike against Iran’s installations should talks fail to curb uranium enrichment.
The post Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Retrieves Body of Thai Hostage from Gaza
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Israeli military has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage who had been held in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday.
Nattapong Pinta’s body was held by a Palestinian terrorist group called the Mujahedeen Brigades, and was recovered from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified.
Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza border where a quarter of the population was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas attack that triggered the devastating war in Gaza.
Israel’s military said Pinta had been abducted alive and killed by his captors, who had also killed and taken to Gaza the bodies of two more Israeli-American hostages that were retrieved earlier this week.
There was no immediate comment from the Mujahedeen Brigades, who have previously denied killing their captives, or from Hamas. The Israeli military said the Brigades were still holding the body of another foreign national. Only 20 of the 55 remaining hostages are believed to still be alive.
The Mujahedeen Brigades also held and killed Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, according to Israeli authorities. Their bodies were returned during a two-month ceasefire, which collapsed in March after the two sides could not agree on terms for extending it to a second phase.
Israel has since expanded its offensive across the Gaza Strip as US, Qatari and Egyptian-led efforts to secure another ceasefire have faltered.
US-BACKED AID GROUP HALTS DISTRIBUTIONS
The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling.
Aid distribution was halted on Friday after the US-and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations. It was unclear whether aid had resumed on Saturday.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It says it has provided around 9 million meals so far.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that 350 trucks of humanitarian aid belonging to U.N. and other international relief groups were transferred this week via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
The war erupted after Hamas-led terrorists took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel’s single deadliest day.
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US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say
Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
The State Department is weighing giving $500 million to the new foundation providing aid to war-shattered Gaza, according to two knowledgeable sources and two former US officials, a move that would involve the US more deeply in a controversial aid effort that has been beset by violence and chaos.
The sources and former US officials, all of whom requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that money for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) would come from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being folded into the US State Department.
The plan has met resistance from some US officials concerned with the deadly shootings of Palestinians near aid distribution sites and the competence of the GHF, the two sources said.
The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week amid warnings that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli aid blockade, which was lifted on May 19 when limited deliveries were allowed to resume.
The foundation has seen senior personnel quit and had to pause handouts twice this week after crowds overwhelmed its distribution hubs.
The State Department and GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters has been unable to establish who is currently funding the GHF operations, which began in Gaza last week. The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution at so-called secure distribution sites.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that a Chicago-based private equity firm, McNally Capital, has an “economic interest” in the for-profit US contractor overseeing the logistics and security of GHF’s aid distribution hubs in the enclave.
While US President Donald Trump’s administration and Israel say they don’t finance the GHF operation, both have been pressing the United Nations and international aid groups to work with it.
The US and Israel argue that aid distributed by a long-established U.N. aid network was diverted to Hamas. Hamas has denied that.
USAID has been all but dismantled. Some 80 percent of its programs have been canceled and its staff face termination as part of President Donald Trump’s drive to align US foreign policy with his “America First” agenda.
One source with knowledge of the matter and one former senior official said the proposal to give the $500 million to GHF has been championed by acting deputy USAID Administrator Ken Jackson, who has helped oversee the agency’s dismemberment.
The source said that Israel requested the funds to underwrite GHF’s operations for 180 days.
The Israeli government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two sources said that some US officials have concerns with the plan because of the overcrowding that has affected the aid distribution hubs run by GHF’s contractor, and violence nearby.
Those officials also want well-established non-governmental organizations experienced in running aid operations in Gaza and elsewhere to be involved in the operation if the State Department approves the funds for GHF, a position that Israel likely will oppose, the sources said.
The post US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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