Biden expected to implement IHRA definition of antisemitism - analysis

Heads of Jewish organizations in the United States, from a broad spectrum of the Jewish community, have said on Monday that the White House Antisemitism Strategy, which is expected to be published by the end of the month by President Joe Biden, will be balanced and positive towards combating antisemitism.

The elephant in the room is the question of whether or not the only definition that will be used for acknowledging antisemitism in the US will be based on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.  

This definition, which was adopted by dozens of countries around the world, as well as hundreds of organizations and official bodies, has many examples of what is considered to be antisemitism, of which are those that see anti-Zionism as antisemitism. One of the examples attached to the IHRA working definition of antisemitism says that "drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis," is considered antisemitism, as well as "the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity."  According to a number of Jewish leaders, the fact that fringe definitions such as the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism (JDA) haven't been considered, "is a positive situation." JDA is a document that outlines the boundaries of antisemitic speech and conduct. It was created to confront antisemitism and address objections to the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism. The declaration was initiated in June 2020 and released in March 2021 after being signed by about 200 scholars. Its creation was motivated by a desire to confront antisemitism and by objections to the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism.

The JDA provides a concise and historically-informed core definition of antisemitism with a set of guidelines. According to the JDA, “Antisemitism is discrimination, prejudice, hostility or violence against Jews as Jews [or Jewish institutions as Jewish].”

What is and isn't inherently antisemitic 

Jewish Insider revealed on Monday that the Nexus definition, which declares that double standards targeting Israel are not inherently antisemitic, will be cited in the new strategy, even though it won't be considered to be the main definition used. The Nexus Task Force analyzes issues at the intersection of Israel and antisemitism. It has published a White Paper, titled “Understanding Antisemitism at its Nexus with Israel and Zionism”, and a "Guide to Identifying Antisemitism in Debates about Israel." According to the Nexus definition, “Antisemitism consists of anti-Jewish beliefs, attitudes, actions or systemic conditions."

The Nexus definition describes ways in which anti-Israel bias can manifest as antisemitism. “It is antisemitic to treat Israel in a negative manner based off of a claim that Jews alone should be denied the right to define themselves as a people and to exercise any form of self-determination."

One senior figure in a large Jewish organization has said that the fact that every single part of this administration has been instructed to see how they can combat antisemitism in their areas of jurisdiction is "astonishing." Leaders of Jewish organizations said that they have been in meetings with a number of government ministries that focus on issues that you wouldn't expect to have anything to do with antisemitism, who are looking for possible ways to make Jews feel more welcome in a variety of fields and areas. 

One progressive Jewish leader explained that he supports adopting IHRA, but also thinks that there needs to be an "American version," of IHRA, that will relate to forms of racism such as White Supremacy and Christian Nationalism, that have unfortunately become popular in the US. 

A representative of a more conservative Jewish organization told the Post, that "even if the strategy isn't exactly what we wished for, which is the full adoption of IHRA, there are a number of very valuable steps being taken towards the Jewish community that we cannot complain about. 

The IHRA definition is considered a mainstream consensus among American Jews, therefore it will be very diffcult to not adopt: In 2021, 51 of the 53 member organizations of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations (COP) adopted IHRA.  The two members of the conference that did not adopt the definition, Americans for Peace Now and the Workers Circle, are both progressive groups.

Criticism from the political Left

Even though the Biden administration is a liberal-led government, criticism from the political Left will be easier to deal with, since the amount of support that IHRA has from Jews and from countries around the world are much more substantial in this specific case. A Jewish leader explained that "it will be very easy to argue with a progressive that IHRA is the most suitable definition since even countries such as Germany have adopted it." 

As of the end of December 2022, a total of 1,116 global entities have adopted and endorsed the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism. In the US, during 2022, 18 states adopted it via legislation or executive actions, bringing the total number of adopting states to 30. Seven out of 10 Canadian provinces have adopted the definition as well. US cities such as Los Angeles, Washington, El Paso and Wichita, Kansas, have also all adopted the IHRA definition.

The American Zionist Movement (AZM) sent Biden a letter on Sunday, urging him to adopt IHRA as the official definition, explaining that "it is today the most widely recognized tool to identify contemporary manifestations of antisemitism."

In November, the State Department stated that it "views the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism as integral to the fight to eliminate this scourge." US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism (SEAS) Amb. Deborah Lipstadt, a world-renowned expert on antisemitism tweeted in response that "the US supports the broadly accepted IHRA working definition of antisemitism. In an era of rapidly rising global antisemitism, now is not the time to discard one of the most fundamental tools we have to combat it." The Biden administration has chosen Lipstadt as their representative on this issue and matter, therefore it is clear that IHRA should and will be adopted by the US administration.