Agency overview | |
---|---|
Formed | 2004 |
Jurisdiction | Executive branch of the United States |
Annual budget | $1.75 million (2024) |
Agency executive |
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Parent department | U.S. Department of State |
Website | Official website |
The Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism (formerly the Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism) is an office of the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights at the United States Department of State. The office "advances U.S. foreign policy on antisemitism" by developing and implementing policies and projects to support efforts to combat antisemitism.
The office was established by the Global Antisemitism Review Act of 2004 and is headed by the Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism (SEAS), who reports to the U.S. Secretary of State. Congressional staffer Gregg Rickman was sworn in as the first Special Envoy in 2006. In 2021, the special envoy was elevated to an ambassador-at-large nominated by the U.S. president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The position was previously appointed by the Secretary of State.
The office's responsibilities under U.S. federal law (22 U.S.C. § 2731) [1] [2] [3] are:
In 2004, President George W. Bush signed the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004, creating an Office to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism reporting to the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL). [2] The State Department under Colin Powell had opposed the legislation, introduced by Congressman Tom Lantos, on grounds that the department already compiled information about antisemitism in its annual human rights and religious freedom reports. [4]
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appointed Republican congressional staffer Gregg Rickman as the first special envoy. Rickman was sworn in on May 22, 2006 and served until the end of the George W. Bush administration. [5] [6]
During his tenure, Rickmann was involved in obtaining U.S. visas for Yemeni Jews. In December 2007, Rickman traveled to Yemen to assess the condition of the Jewish community there and to investigate a report of abduction, forced conversion to Islam, and marriage of a young Yemenite woman. Over 60 Yemeni Jews were resettled in the United States due to the efforts of Rickman's office and organizations such as HIAS. [7] [8]
The first periodic report on antisemitism, "Contemporary Global Antisemitism: A Report Provided to the United States Congress", was published in March 2008. [9]
Hannah Rosenthal served in the post under the Obama administration from November 23, 2009 to October 5, 2012. [10] [11] Rosenthal energetically expanded on Rickman's initiatives, issuing a more far-ranging report on global antisemitism in 2010, speaking broadly at conferences, and working closely with counterparts in the European Union and OSCE. [9]
Rosenthal was praised for formalizing the office's work and criteria, and for her personal involvement against anti-Semitic acts globally; however, she also received criticism from her predecessor Rickman and from Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, for including Muslim community leaders in joint activities against religious hatred. [11] [12]
Rosenthal was succeeded on an interim basis by career diplomat and former U.S. ambassador to Belarus Michael Kozak. [13] Kozak served in the role until Ira Forman, the former executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, was sworn in as Special Envoy on May 20, 2013. He served until Obama's term in office ended in January 2017. [14] [15] [16]
In June 2017, five months into the Trump administration, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson cast doubt on whether the post of Special Envoy would be filled during Trump's presidency. [17] Members of the House and Senate publicly expressed concern that the position was unfilled and called for Trump to make an appointment, at the same time calling on Trump to fill the vacant position of White House Jewish Liaison. [18] [16] Congressional concern over the vacancy continued to grow throughout 2018 and early 2019. [19] On February 5, 2019, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the appointment of Elan Carr, a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney who had served as an active duty officer in the United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps. [20] [19] [21] [22]
In 2021, the Special Envoy was elevated to an Ambassador-at-Large nominated by the U.S. President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. [1] At the beginning of the Biden Administration, the office's budget was $500,000 and operated with a skeletal staff of fewer than two full-time employees. Most of the office's positions are political appointees who leave when an administration ends. [23]
On July 30, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated scholar Deborah Lipstadt for this role. [24] Opposition from Senator Ron Johnson, whom she had tweeted was advocating "white supremacy/nationalism", delayed her nomination for many months. [25] Her initial nomination expired at the end of the year. [26]
Amidst the delays in confirming Lipstadt, the Biden Administration named Aaron Keyak to the post of Deputy Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism. The deputy position was not at the ambassador level and did not require Senate confirmation. [27]
After re-nomination, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held hearings on her nomination on February 8, 2022. On March 29, 2022, the committee favorably reported her nomination out of committee. Her nomination was supported by all committee Democrats, as well as senators Mitt Romney and Marco Rubio. [25] Her nomination was confirmed by voice vote on March 30, 2022, and she was sworn in on May 3, 2022. [28]
Lipstadt was part of the Biden administration team that launched the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. [29]
The 2024 U.S. federal budget increased funding for the office from $1.5 million to $1.75 million. The budget increase followed robust support from officials in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. [23]
# | Image | Name | Assumed office | Left office | President(s) served under |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gregg Rickman | May 22, 2006 | January 20, 2009 | George W. Bush | |
2 | Hannah Rosenthal | November 23, 2009 | October 5, 2012 | Barack Obama | |
- | Michael Kozak (Acting) | October 5, 2012 | May 20, 2013 | ||
3 | Ira Forman | May 20, 2013 | January 20, 2017 | ||
- | Office Vacant | January 20, 2017 | February 5, 2019 | Donald Trump | |
4 | Elan Carr | February 5, 2019 | January 20, 2021 | ||
- | Office Vacant | January 20, 2021 | May 3, 2022 | Joe Biden | |
5 | Deborah Lipstadt | May 3, 2022 | Incumbent |
Deborah Esther Lipstadt is an American historian and diplomat, best known as author of the books Denying the Holocaust (1993), History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier (2005), The Eichmann Trial (2011), and Antisemitism: Here and Now (2019). She has served as the United States Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism since May 3, 2022. Since 1993 she has been the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, US.
Kenneth S. Stern is an American attorney and an author. He is the director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate, a program of the Human Rights Project at Bard College. From 2014 to 2018 he was the executive director of the Justus & Karin Rosenberg Foundation. From 1989 to 2014 he was the director of antisemitism, hate studies and extremism for the American Jewish Committee. In 2000, Stern was a special advisor to the defense in the David Irving v. Penguin Books and Deborah Lipstadt trial. His 2020 book, The Conflict Over the Conflict: The Israel/Palestine Campus Debate, examines attempts of partisans of each side to censor the other, and the resulting damage to the academy.
Antisemitism has long existed in the United States. Most Jewish community relations agencies in the United States draw distinctions between antisemitism, which is measured in terms of attitudes and behaviors, and the security and status of American Jews, which are both measured by the occurrence of specific incidents.
The White House staff position of liaison to the American Jewish community is a role charged with serving as a presidential administration's voice to the community and gathering the community's consensus viewpoint on issues affecting it for the benefit of White House policymakers. It has existed at least as early as the Carter Administration.
Ira N. Forman is a former executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council from January 1996 through June 2010. From May 2013 until January 2017 he served as the United States Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating anti-Semitism.
The Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism (YIISA) was an academic center at Yale University. Founded in 2006, it was the first university-based center in North America dedicated to the study of antisemitism. Professor Charles A. Small was YIISA's inaugural director.
Hannah Rosenthal is an American Democratic Party political official and Jewish non-profit executive who served as the U.S. Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism from 2009 until 2012 during the Obama administration.
The Canadian Institute for the Study of Antisemitism (CISA) is one of seven institutes in the world dedicated to the scholarly study of antisemitism. Founded in 2010 by Canadian historian Catherine Chatterley, the Institute is a national organization based in Winnipeg.
Elan Sherod Carr is an American lawyer and businessman. He is the CEO of the Israeli American Council. Previously, he was an American attorney and politician who served as the Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating anti-Semitism under President Donald Trump from 2019 to 2021.
The Office of the Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues is an diplomatic office of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs at the United States Department of State. Established in 1999, the office develops and implements U.S. policy to ensure Holocaust property restitution, secure compensation for Nazi-era wrongs, and promote Holocaust commemoration.
The working definition of antisemitism, also called the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism or IHRA definition, is a non-legally binding statement on what antisemitism is, that reads: "Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities." Accompanying the working definition, but of disputed status, are 11 illustrative examples whose purpose is described as guiding the IHRA in its work, seven of which relate to criticism of the Israeli government. As such, pro-Israeli organizations have been advocates for the worldwide legal adoption of the definition.
Antisemitism Here and Now is a book by Deborah Lipstadt published in February 2019.
Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) is an American advocacy group that supports pro-Israel policies within the United States Democratic Party.
Ellie Cohanim is an American broadcast journalist who served as Deputy Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism at the United States Department of State during the Donald Trump administration.
The Nexus Task Force, created in November 2019, analyzes issues at the intersection of Israel and antisemitism. On its website, titled Israel and Antisemitism: Policy at the Nexus of Two Critical Issues, the task force has published the Nexus Document, described as "a resource designed for policymakers and community leaders, aiming to enhance their understanding of the issues that intersect at the nexus of antisemitism, Israel, and Zionism", the Nexus White Paper, titled "Understanding Antisemitism at its Nexus with Israel and Zionism", and the Nexus "Guide to Identifying Antisemitism in Debates about Israel".
Gregg J. Rickman is an American Republican Party official and Congressional staffer. During the 1990s, he was the lead staff member of the U.S. Senate's Swiss bank inquiry. During the George W. Bush Administration, Rickman served as the inaugural U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism from 2006 to 2009.
Baronesse Katharina von Schnurbein is a German civil servant who has served as the European Commission's coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life since 2015. She is the first person to hold this role, which reports to Vice-President of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas under his portfolio of European Commissioner for Promoting our European Way of Life.
On May 25, 2023, the administration of US President Joe Biden unveiled The U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. President Biden called his administration's plan the “most ambitious and comprehensive U.S. government-led effort to fight antisemitism in American history.”
Global Antisemitism Review Act, officially the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004 is a U.S. law passed in 2004 that established the Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism.