Lawmakers Push Trump To Appoint Jewish Liaison
President Trump speaking at Days of Remembrance ceremony April 25, 2017 Image by Getty Images
Donald Trump Image by getty images
(JTA) — A bipartisan group of lawmakers is calling on President Donald Trump to appoint a White House liaison to the Jewish community.
Reps. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., and Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., are asking members of Congress to sign a letter to the president. Rosen and Zeldin are Jewish.
“While it is still early in your term, increased anti-Semitism in the United States, the rise of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and persecution of religious minorities across the globe create an urgent need for a designated point of contact to work with and provide outreach to the American Jewish community,” the letter reads.
The Jerusalem Post reported last week that the White House did not have plans to appoint someone to serve in the position. For 40 years, U.S. presidents of both parties have appointed liaisons to the Jewish community.
The role is not the only one related to the Jewish community that Trump has yet to fill. On Thursday, JTA reported that the State Department’s office to monitor and combat anti-Semitism will be unstaffed as of July 1.
Congressional lawmakers from both parties have pressed the Trump administration, in letters and proposed bills, to name an anti-Semitism envoy and to enhance the office’s status. They have noted that unlike other envoys, whose positions were created by Trump’s predecessors, the office of the envoy on anti-Semitism is a statute and requires filling.
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