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Biden plan to combat antisemitism demands reforms across the executive branch and beyond
WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Joe Biden unveiled a multifaceted and broad strategy to combat antisemitism in the United States that reaches from basketball courts to farming communities, from college campuses to police departments.
“We must say clearly and forcefully that antisemitism and all forms of hate and violence have no place in America,” Biden said in a prerecorded video. “Silence is complicity.”
The 60-page document and its list of more than 100 recommendations stretches across the government, requiring reforms in virtually every sector of the executive branch within a year. It was formulated after consultations with over a thousand experts, and covers a range of tactics, from increased security funding to a range of educational efforts.
The plan has been in the works since December, and the White House has consulted with large Jewish organizations throughout the process. The finished document embraces proposals that large Jewish organizations have long advocated, as well as initiatives that pleasantly surprised Jewish organizational leaders, most of whom praised it upon its release.
Among the proposals that Jewish leaders have called for were recommendations to streamline reporting of hate crimes across local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, which will enable the government to accurately assess the breadth of hate crimes. The proposal also recommends that Congress double the funds available to nonprofits for security measures, from $180 million to $360 million.
One proposal that, if enacted, could be particularly far-reaching — and controversial — is a call for Congress to pass “fundamental reforms” to a provision that shields social media platforms from liability for the content users post on their sites. The plan says social media companies should have a “zero tolerance policy for hate speech on their platforms.”
In addition, the plan calls for action in partnership with a range of government agencies and private entities. It says the government will work with professional sports leagues to educate fans about antisemitism and hold athletes accountable for it, following instances of antisemitic speech by figures such as NBA star Kyrie Irving or NFL player DeSean Jackson.
The government will also partner with rural museums and libraries to educate their visitors about Jewish heritage and antisemitism. And the plan includes actions to be taken by a number of cabinet departments, from the Department of Veterans Affairs to the USDA.
“It’s really producing a whole-of-government approach that stretches from what you might consider the obvious things like more [security] grants and more resources for the Justice Department and the FBI,” said Nathan Diament, the Washington director of the Orthodox Union. “But it stretches all the way across things that the Department of Labor and the Small Business Administration can do with regard to educating about antisemitism, that the National Endowment of the Humanities and the President’s Council on Sports and Fitness can do with regard to the institutions that they deal with.”
An array of Jewish organizations from the left to the center-right echoed those sentiments in welcoming the plan with enthusiasm, marking a change from recent weeks in which they had been split over how the plan should define antisemitism. Still, a handful of right-wing groups blasted the strategy, saying that its chosen definition of antisemitism diluted the term.
Despite the relatively united front, there are elements of the strategy that may stoke broader controversy: Among a broad array of partner groups named in the plan is the Council on American-Islamic Relations, whose harsh criticism of Israel has led to relations with centrist Jewish organizations that are fraught at best. The call to place limits on social media platforms may also upset free speech advocates.
Biden recalled, as he often does, that he decided to run for president after President Donald Trump equivocated while condemning the neo-Nazis who organized a deadly march in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.
“Repeated episodes of hate — including numerous attacks on Jewish Americans — have since followed Charlottesville, shaking our moral conscience as Americans and challenging the values for which we stand as a Nation,” Biden wrote in an introduction to the report.
The administration launched the initiative last December, after years during which Jewish groups and the FBI reported sharp spikes in antisemitic incidents. The strategy was originally planned for release at its Jewish American Heritage Month celebration last week, but was delayed, in part because of last minute internal squabbling over whether it would accept a definition of antisemitism that some on the left said chilled free speech on Israel. Some right-wing groups were deeply critical of the new strategy for not accepting that definition to the exclusion of others.
Rabbi Levi Shemtov, the executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) praised the breadth of the plan, and said the delay seemed to produce results.
“The White House has taken this very seriously. The phrase that something is still being worked on can often be a euphemism for a lack of concern,” he said. “In this case, it seems to have resulted in an even more comprehensive and hopefully more effective result.”
Some of the initiatives in the plan focus less on directly confronting antisemitism and more on promoting tolerance of and education about Jews.The Biden Administration will seek to ensure accommodations for Jewish religious observance, the accompanying fact sheet said, and “the Department of Agriculture will work to ensure equal access to all USDA feeding programs for USDA customers with religious dietary needs, including kosher and halal dietary needs.”
Jonathan Greenblatt, the Anti-Defamation League CEO who was closely consulted on the strategy, said promoting inclusion was as critical as fighting antisemitism. “Is FEMA giving kosher provisions after disasters going to solve antisemitism?” he said in an interview. “No, but… it’s an acknowledgement of the plurality of communities and the need to treat Jewish people like you would any other minority community, and I think I’m very pleased to see that.”
In the months since Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish, convened a roundtable to launch the initiative, the Biden administration has pivoted from focusing on the threat of antisemitism from the far-right to also highlighting its manifestation in other spheres — including amid anti-Israel activism on campuses and the targeting of visibly religious Jews in the northeast. Those factors were evident in the strategy.
“Some traditionally observant Jews, especially traditional Orthodox Jews, are victimized while walking down the street,” the strategy said in its introduction. “Jewish students and educators are targeted for derision and exclusion on college campuses, often because of their real or perceived views about the State of Israel.”
The proposal that may provoke controversy beyond American Jewry is the Biden Administration’s calls to reform the tech sector, which echo bipartisan recommendations to change Section 230, a provision of U.S. law that grants platforms immunity from being liable for the content users post. Free speech advocates and the companies themselves say that if the government were to police online speech, it would veer into censorship.
“Tech companies have a critical role to play and for that reason the strategy contains 10 separate calls to tech companies to establish a zero tolerance policy for hate speech on their platforms, to ensure that their algorithms do not pass along hate speech and extreme content to users and to listen more closely to Jewish groups to better understand how antisemitism manifests itself on their platforms,” Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, Biden’s top Homeland Security adviser, said during a 30-minute briefing on the strategy on Thursday. “The president has also called on Congress to remove the special immunity for online platforms and to impose stronger transparency requirements in order to ensure that tech companies are removing content that violates their terms of service.”
Neo-Nazis and white supremacists encircle counterprotesters at the base of a statue of Thomas Jefferson after marching through the University of Virginia campus with torches in Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 11, 2017. (Shay Horse/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
In the weeks before the rollout, a debate raged online and behind the scenes amid Jewish organizations and activists about how the plan would define antisemitism. Centrist and right-wing groups pushed for the plan to embrace the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition. Among its examples of anti-Jewish bigotry are those focusing on when Israel criticism is antisemitic, including when “double standards” applied to Israel are antisemitic.
Advocates on the left say those clauses turn legitimate criticism of Israel into hate speech; instead, they pushed to include references to the Nexus Document, a definition authored by academics that recognizes IHRA but seeks to complement it by further elucidating how anti-Israel expression may be antisemitic in some instances, and not in others. Others sought to include the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism, which rejects IHRA’s Israel-related examples.
In the end, the strategy said the U.S. government recognizes the IHRA definition as the “most prominent” and “appreciates the Nexus Document and notes other such efforts.”
A number of the centrist groups pressed for exclusive reference to IHRA, including the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Those groups praised the strategy and focused only on its embrace of IHRA. So did the Israeli ambassador to Washington, Michael Herzog.
“I would like to congratulate the Biden administration for publishing the first ever national strategy to combat antisemitism,” Herzog wrote on Twitter. “Thank you, @POTUS, for prioritizing the need to confront antisemitism in all its forms. We welcome the re-embracing of @TheIHRA definition which is the gold standard definition of antisemitism.”
Some center-right groups like B’nai Brith International, StandWithUs and the World Jewish Congress, praised the strategy while expressing regret at the inclusion of Nexus. Right-wing groups, such as the Republican Jewish Coalition and Christians United for Israel condemned the rollout.
RJC said Biden “blew it” by not exclusively using the IHRA definition. The Brandeis Center, which defends pro-Israel groups and students on campus, said the “substance doesn’t measure up.”
Groups on the left, however, broadly praised the strategy. “We call on our Jewish communities to seize this historic moment and build on this new strategy to ensure that the fight for Jewish safety is a fight for a better and safer America for all,” said a statement from six left-leaning groups spearheaded by Jews For Racial & Economic Justice.
Greenblatt said it was predictable that groups on the left would take the win and that groups on the right would grumble — but that it was also beside the point. IHRA, he said, was now U.S. policy.
“This document elevates and advances IHRA as the way that U.S. policy will be formulated going forward and across all of the agencies,” Greenblatt said. “That is a win.”
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Suspect Arrested in Venezuela for 1994 Panama Flight Bombing That Killed 21, Including 12 Jewish Passengers
The wreckage of Alas Chiricanas Flight 901 after it exploded midair in 1994, killing all 21 passengers and crew on board. Photo: Screenshot
Interpol has confirmed the arrest in Venezuela of a suspect linked to the 1994 bombing of a Panamanian commercial flight that killed 21 people — including 12 members of the country’s Jewish community — marking a major development more than three decades after one of Latin America’s deadliest terror attacks.
On Saturday, the Interpol National Central Bureau in Panama said in a statement that it “received confirmation” from its counterparts in Venezuela of the arrest of Ali Hage Zaki Jalil — a Venezuelan citizen of Lebanese descent — on Margarita Island in the northeastern state of Nueva Esparta, in a joint operation with the international police organization Interpol and local and national authorities.
In 1994, Alas Chiricanas Flight 901, a domestic passenger plane traveling a short 30–40 minute route from Colón on Panama’s Caribbean coast to the capital, Panama City, was destroyed by a midair explosion, killing all 21 passengers and crew on board.
At the time, local authorities determined that a suicide bomber had triggered explosives concealed within a portable radio.
Jalil allegedly managed logistics and transportation for the terrorists responsible for the attack, according to officials.
Panama’s government investigation found that the bomber was Hamas operative Ali Jamal, who had boarded the flight carrying a suitcase packed with explosives.
The terrorist attack occurred just one day after the bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, in which 85 people were killed and more than 300 wounded — the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentina’s history.
International intelligence agencies have long suspected that the two attacks were part of a Hezbollah-led wave of coordinated violence in the early 1990s targeting Jewish and Israeli interests across Latin America.
The Lebanese terrorist group has long operated within Latin America to finance illicit activities, particularly in countries like Venezuela and Colombia, as well as in the Tri-Border Area — where Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil meet and organized crime has long thrived.
Iran serves as Hezbollah’s chief international backer and also maintains close ties with Venezuela.
In 1995, a classified Panamanian intelligence report identified “operational similarities” between the Panama and Buenos Aires bombings, citing the use of suicide attackers, identical explosives, and links to Lebanese nationals operating in Venezuela and Paraguay.
The investigation into Flight 901 stalled for years due to political instability and lack of international cooperation, only to be reopened in 2017 when new forensic and intelligence evidence connected suspects in Venezuela and Lebanon to the attack.
In 2024, the US State Department offered a $5 million reward for information leading to those responsible for the terrorist attack, as well as additional rewards for tips on Hezbollah’s financial networks in Latin America.
In coordination with Israeli and American intelligence services, Panama’s government gradually traced leads to Jalil, who reportedly spent years living under multiple aliases in the country.
According to local officials, Jalil had spent years on Margarita Island hiding under false identities, shielded by networks sympathetic to Hezbollah-linked organizations.
Panama has formally requested Jalil’s extradition, and Venezuela’s Interior Ministry confirmed that he will remain in custody while the process moves forward.
If extradited and convicted, Jalil is expected to face charges of premeditated murder and crimes against state security, carrying a potential life sentence under Panamanian law.
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Trump Vows to ‘Make Syria Successful’ After Historic White House Meeting With President, Ex-Al Qaeda Commander
US President Donald Trump meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House, Washington, DC, US, Nov. 10, 2025. Photo: Screenshot
US President Donald Trump on Monday hosted the first-ever visit by a Syrian president to Washington, DC, vowing to help Syria as the war-ravaged country struggles to come out of decades of international isolation.
“We’ll do everything we can to make Syria successful,” Trump told reporters after his White House meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al Qaeda commander who until recently was sanctioned by the US as a foreign terrorist with a $10 million bounty on his head.
Trump added that he “gets along” with Sharaa, whom he described as a “strong leader,” and that he would like to commence “working also with Israel on getting along with Syria.”
Israel and Syria, two longtime foes, are reportedly in the final stages of months-long negotiations over a security agreement that could establish a joint Israeli, Syrian, and US presence at key strategic locations.
Trump, speaking from the Oval Office, said that he expects to share “some announcements on Syria” soon.
“We want to see Syria become a country that’s very successful, and we think this leader can do it,” he added.
Sharaa led Islamist rebel forces that toppled longtime Syrian autocratic leader Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran, last year. Since taking power, he has sought to depict himself as a moderate leader who wants to unify his country and attract foreign investment to rebuild it after years of civil war. Many foreign leaders and experts have been skeptical of Sharaa, however, questioning whether he is still a jihadist trying to disguise his extremism.
One of Sharaa’s primary objectives has been to lift crippling US and international sanctions imposed on Syria during Assad’s tenure.
The US removed its bounty on Sharaa in December, and Trump ordered the lifting of most US sanctions on Syria in May after meeting him in Saudi Arabia. However, the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019, which authorizes the toughest US sanctions for human rights abuses, remains in place.
Sharaa was expected to push hard for the full removal of sanctions when he met with Trump behind closed doors. The US Treasury Department on Monday announced a 180-day extension of its suspension of enforcement of the Caesar sanctions, but only the US Congress can remove them permanently.
The State Department removed Sharaa and his interior minister from the Specially Designated Global Terrorist list on Friday. Several other countries and the UN have taken similar measures in recent weeks and months.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry announced that Syria and the United States have reached an agreement to incorporate the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces into the Syrian army.
According to the statement, the initiative is part of a broader effort to unify state institutions and strengthen national security.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described Monday’s meetings as “part of the president’s efforts in diplomacy to meet with anyone around the world in the pursuit of peace.”
Discussions centered on counter-terror cooperation, border stabilization, and a Syrian role in the US-led coalition against Islamic State (ISIS).
The Syrian information minister said in a post on X on Monday that Syria has signed a political cooperation declaration with the US-led “Global Coalition to Defeat Islamic State.”
Hours before the White House talks, reports came out saying that two ISIS plots to assassinate Sharaa had been foiled in recent months.
Trump has lavished praise on the Syrian leader’s tenure, saying that he is “doing a very good job so far” and that “progress” has been made with Syria since the lifting of sanctions.
Despite such praise, Sharaa arrived without the fanfare typically reserved for foreign leaders, entering the White House through a side door rather than through the West Wing main door.
Syria has experienced spurts of violence since Sharaa assumed power, including deadly attacks against minority groups such as the Alawites and Druze, allegedly carried out in part by government forces.
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Hootenanny will bring Jewish camp song and spirit to Manhattan temple at Nov. 13 event
Elana Arian has always associated Jewish music with summer camp.
From the time she was a little kid at Kutz, a summer camp affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism where her parents were on faculty, to when she was a camper at URJ Camp Harlam, Arian liked singing songs, playing guitar and, eventually, leading music for the entire camp.
“I can’t remember a time when I didn’t connect to Judaism through song sessions in the dining hall,” Arian said. “As a kid, that’s what being Jewish meant to me.”
Now an accomplished composer, prayer leader and faculty member at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Arian tours full-time to congregations across North America. She is also the music director behind a special event: a hootenanny, a communal sing-along of Jewish music taking place at Congregation Rodeph Sholom in Manhattan.
Tickets are on sale now for the Nov. 13 event, both for in-person attendance and via livestream.
“In a moment when fear and division too often drown out harmony, the hootenanny reminds us that song can still unite what the world tries to tear apart,” said Rabbi Ben Spratt, senior rabbi at Rodeph Sholom. “Judaism is strongest when every voice is lifted together — in joy, in resilience, in hope. We’re proud to carry forward the courage of past generations and to shine as a beacon of Jewish pride and belonging.”
The event is a benefit for Eisner Camp and Crane Lake Camp, two URJ camps in the Massachusetts Berkshires. Proceeds from the event will benefit the camps’ scholarship fund, making it possible for more families with financial need to give their children a transformative Jewish summer experience.
The hootenanny will feature a who’s who of Jewish musicians who not only have become regulars on summer camp playlists, but whose work is familiar to tens of thousands of Jews across North America. In addition to Arian, the event will feature Noah Aronson, Michelle Citrin, Dan Freelander and Jeff Klepper (Kol B’Seder), Alan Goodis, Jacob Spike Kraus, Joanie Leeds, Naomi Less, Dan Nichols, and Julie Silver. The artists are donating their time for the hootenanny, and the musicians will be on stage together for the entire show.
“The spirit of this is a group of friends and musicians who are playing together and enjoying themselves,” Arian said.
The is the second hootenanny that Rodeph Sholom, a congregation of approximately 1,900 members, has hosted. The first, in late 2022, came as COVID restrictions were being lifted. More than 650 people attended the concert in person, with roughly 300 more watching online.
“People wanted to sing with each other and wanted to come together,” recalled Shayna De Lowe, Rodeph Sholom’s senior cantor. “Being in that room was pure magic. It reminded us why music mattered so much in that moment — and how much it still matters now.”
Those two ideas form the basis of the hootenanny, which has its roots in American folk music. The legendary singer Woody Guthrie led hootenannies — open-mic-style communal singalongs — in the 1940s, and they were further popularized in the 1960s by such folk luminaries as Joan Baez and Pete Seeger.
Many of the songs to be performed at this hootenanny will stem from the Jewish music revival launched by the late Debbie Friedman, who began writing melodies in the late 1960s and early 1970s at Jewish camps. Friedman’s songs, including her setting for “Mi Shebeirach,” the Jewish prayer for healing, are staples in synagogues across America.
The spirit Friedman ignited still resonates today, carried forward by a new generation of Jewish musicians.
The upcoming hootenanny will feature both the camp-inspired sacred music Friedman popularized — some played by Friedman’s contemporaries — as well as newer Jewish music. In addition, a group of New York-area teens will take the stage as songleaders after participating in a master class the previous evening with Goodis and cantor Rosalie Will.
Watch parties are also planned at congregations in Albany, N.Y., and Boston. At Rodeph Sholom, an in-person after party will follow for those in their 20s and 30s.
The presenting sponsor of the event is the Off-Broadway one-man play “Other,” with New York Jewish Week as media sponsor and numerous congregational partners across New York and New England serving as co-sponsors.
Debby Shriber, executive director of URJ Camps, said the importance of Jewish music at URJ camps cannot be overstated.
“The music is the soundtrack of our lives,” Shriber said. “It’s embedded in everything we do at camp.”
(Tickets for the Nov. 13 hootenanny at Congregation Rodeph Sholom, for the livestream, and for the after party are available.)
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