J Street welcomes the Biden Administration’s establishment of a new inter-agency task force to combat antisemitism and other related forms of discrimination, and we are glad to see that the task force will work to establish a national strategy for combating antisemitism.
Over recent years, Jewish Americans have grown increasingly alarmed over the undeniable mainstreaming of antisemitism and white nationalism in our national discourse and politics, and the dangerous rise of violent attacks targeting Jewish communities and other vulnerable minorities. Rising antisemitism is a very clear and present danger – and it must be confronted head on.
Our community is concerned by antisemitism in all its forms, and particularly by the threat posed by the far-right forces that have been normalized and empowered by former president Donald Trump and his allies. According to recent national polling commissioned by J Street, 76% of Jewish-American voters believe that Trump and his MAGA movement allies are responsible for a rise in antisemitism.
We appreciate that the Administration is treating the issue of antisemitism and other interrelated forms of bigotry with the seriousness and urgency that it merits, and that the Administration recognizes that antisemitism must be understood and confronted alongside the general phenomenon of rising white supremacy and discrimination against our fellow vulnerable minorities. We commend Senators Rosen and Lankford and Representatives Manning and Smith for leading 122 Congressional colleagues in a recent bipartisan letter calling for the development of a unified national strategy to monitor and combat antisemitism and ensure closer interagency coordination. We at J Street look forward to doing all that we can to work with this task force and all relevant agencies to support them in their critical work.