Israel to combat antisemitism as strategic threat to state

Israel plans to combat antisemitism as a strategic threat due to its delegitimization of the Jewish state by creating a joint task force from the Foreign and Diaspora Affairs ministries. The project will include a coordinated strategy at home and abroad, with a budget of between NIS 20 million and NIS 50m., the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“Antisemitism has become a strategic threat for the State of Israel,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.

The task force is intended to combat what has become a rising global threat against Jews, particularly in the aftermath of the October 7 terrorist attack.

All of Israel’s embassies will also be involved in the initiative as well.

Earlier this month, the Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry reported a 33% global increase in antisemitism in 2023. Some 46% of the incidents were in the US, and 48% were committed after October 7.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, there was a 361% rise in the number of antisemitic incidents in the US in the last three months of 2023, compared with the same period in 2022.

Initiative takes place against backdrop of int'l legal challenges, surge in incidents

Israel has also found itself under diplomatic attack, with cases pending before the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice on charges of war crimes and genocide. It has also been the subject of numerous debates in the United Nations General Assembly and UN Security Council.

Katz and Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli met on Monday to launch the initiative. Among the issues at stake has been Israel’s right to self-defense, with UN experts calling for an arms embargo against it.

The rise in antisemitism and the campaign of delegitimization had already existed before the Hamas-led October 7 attack that sparked the Gaza war, but it was exacerbated by the fighting.

“The time has come to move from the defensive to the offensive and to ensure that the perpetrators of antisemitism are identified and dealt with,” Chikli said.

The initiative will include a push for a government proclamation to improve Israel’s global standing and legislation to target organizations, including NGOs, and individuals engaged in antisemitism.

Katz said: “We are in a fateful war in which we are on the just side. We have a responsibility as a country to fight for our people’s good name.”