Former Anti-Semitism Envoys Call On Congress To Fund Office
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
NEW YORK (JTA) — Two former officials who served as the State Department’s special envoy to combat anti-Semitism called on President Donald Trump to fill the position and said they expected Congress to fund the envoy’s office in the coming budget.
The office of the envoy, whose job is to monitor and document anti-Semitism around the world, as well as work with foreign governments to fight it, has been vacant since Ira Forman left the job last year. Trump has not appointed a replacement, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson questioned the need for the post earlier this month.
On July 1, the envoy’s office will be left unstaffed, as its two remaining employees are set to be reassigned.
The two envoys who served under President Barack Obama said the position is necessary in order to coordinate and advance the monitoring work done in U.S. missions worldwide. They added that the envoy’s working definition of anti-Semitism helped U.S. personnel in foreign countries determine what is and is not anti-Semitism.
“If people aren’t being rounded up and sent to their death, many people in the State Department and Congress and many places feel there isn’t anti-Semitism,” said Hannah Rosenthal, the envoy during Obama’s first term.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
