Israel this week assumed the presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), an intergovernmental organization comprising dozens of countries dedicated to combating antisemitism and promoting Holocaust research and education.

Dani Dayan — chairman of Yad Vashem, Israel’s national memorial to the Holocaust in Jerusalem — will represent the Jewish state as chair of IHRA.

“We are at a crossroads of generations, and the responsibility of preserving the memory and sharing the stories of the Holocaust will soon rest solely on our shoulders. The voices of victims and survivors demand that we honor their legacy by standing firm against Holocaust denial, distortion, and hatred,” Dayan said in a statement. “In a world witnessing a dramatic rise in antisemitism and grappling with the challenges and opportunities of emerging technologies, our obligation to historical truth has never been more critical.”

Israel’s presidency of IHRA began on Monday and will run through February 2026.

“The antisemitism that resulted in the Holocaust has not been eradicated from the world. On the contrary, over the past year and a half, we have witnessed it intensifying dramatically, targeting both the Jewish people and the Jewish state,” Israeli Foreign Minister Giden Sa’ar added in his own statement, referring to the historic surge in antisemitic incidents around the world since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel.

“The new antisemites attack Israel’s right to exist and its right to defend itself,” Sa’ar continued. “It is our duty not only to remember the Holocaust but also to ensure the existence of the Jewish state, which serves as the guarantee of Jewish continuity for generations to come, while also preserving and passing on the memory of the Holocaust to future generations.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed Israel as the new president of IHRA.

“Today the United States warmly welcomes the start of Israel’s year-long presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which is committed to supporting accurate Holocaust commemoration, education, and research,” Rubio said in a press statement. “We also congratulate the United Kingdom on its completion of a highly successful presidency.”

Rubio added, “The United States will partner with Israel during its IHRA presidency to defend the memory and historical fact of the Holocaust and fight the toxic spread of Holocaust denial and distortion and all other forms of antisemitism.”

The top American diplomat warned of an aggressive US response to the ongoing rise in antisemitism.

“Holocaust distortion, a shocking form of antisemitism, has proliferated and the poison of antisemitism continues to spread,” Rubio said. “We see it in violent attacks on Jews, defacement of Holocaust memorials, and dangerous rhetoric in universities and international organizations. President Trump and I have made the United States’ position unmistakably clear: the United States will confront antisemitism with determination and resolve.”

Israel will be taking over IHRA’s presidency from the United Kingdom, which headed the organization for the past year with Lord Eric Pickles serving as chair.

“The aim was to bring out the best in the IHRA, engender confidence in difficult times, and, above all, strengthen the organization,” Pickles said at a handover ceremony in Jerusalem. “Those of us who attended the poignant 80th anniversary ceremony at Auschwitz-Birkenau in January know that we will never see the like again.”

Pickles added that “10 years from now, at the 90th anniversary, it is unlikely there will be Holocaust survivors to speak. We are now the custodians of their memory. We must remember and tell the truth.”

Recent Legislative Efforts Regarding the IHRA Antisemitism Definition

IHRA adopted a “working definition” of antisemitism in 2016. Since then, the definition has been widely accepted by Jewish groups and lawmakers across the political spectrum, and it is now used by hundreds of governing institutions, including the US State Department, European Union, and United Nations. Dozens of US states have also formally adopted it through law or executive action.

In recent months, several additional measures have been taken to expand the definition’s usage.

Last month, for example, Australia’s 39 universities announced that the IHRA working definition of antisemitism would be used in assessing antisemitism on campus. The country has seen a string of antisemitic crimes which authorities suspect foreign actors of masterminding.

On Feb. 20, US Sens. Katie Britt (R-AL), Tim Scott (R-SC), and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) introduced the Antisemitism Awareness Act to implement the definition in the US Department of Education.

“We cannot allow antisemitism to fester in our schools, on our college campuses, or anywhere in our society. This legislation would give the Department of Education the tools to hold students and institutions accountable,” Britt said at the time. “Any American educational institution authorizing, facilitating, or otherwise supporting pro-terrorism activities should lose every cent of federal funding and subsidization.”

On Feb. 26, the Missouri House of Representatives Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee heard the case for a bill to use the IHRA definition at the state’s schools.

Two weeks earlier, the Kansas House Committee on Education received a presentation on a bill to codify the definition for the state’s schools.

On Feb. 3, the Nebraska Legislature Education Committee conducted a hearing for a bill also seeking to implement the IHRA definition in schools.

In late January, state representatives and community members met at the New Jersey statehouse to speak out in support of a bill for the state to adopt the IHRA definition. The legislation’s primary sponsor, Assemblyman Gary Schaer, said that “today we have an opportunity to do something truly profound — pass bipartisan legislation that will protect a religious minority.”

To resolve two lawsuits, Harvard agreed to implement the IHRA definition and to release an annual report for the next five years documenting responses to violations of Title VI of the US Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In January, Oklahoma State Rep. John Waldron, a Democrat elected in Tulsa, put forward legislation to use the IHRA definition in the state’s guide for employees assessing bigotry.

On Jan. 26, the student government of Rutgers University voted down a measure to embrace the definition.

Days earlier, Ireland announced its embrace of the IHRA definition, despite the Irish government’s harsh criticism of Israel and amid a surge of antisemitism in the country.

In December 2024, a group of 24 Israeli colleges announced plans to use the IHRA definition.

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