A global war on antisemitism must start now – opinion

In 2001, then-US president George W. Bush declared a global war on terrorism. It is high time we did the same in response to the current shocking wave of antisemitism, the largest since World War II. The current wave is more pernicious than previous waves, and even faster growing, thanks to its social media accelerant.

What are today’s forms of antisemitism?

Demonstrations, boycotts, threats, assaults, harassment, and vandalism; blocking acceptance of Jews to Ivy League universities; rejecting Israeli scholars for post-doctoral positions; rejecting Israeli scholars’ publications; ignoring the rape and murder of Israeli citizens; Holocaust denial – and more. What is happening today – since October 7, 2023 – is also deeply and horrendously familiar. Frankly, it’s been the same for centuries.

The existing framework for combating antisemitism is inefficient, despite its many actors. There are special emissaries at the foreign offices of several countries, such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and the European Union (EU). Israel also has a designated minister and a small governmental ministry.

There are hundreds of NGOs whose task is to combat antisemitism, among them the Combat Antisemitism Movement with 850 member organizations. In the US, Israel, and Europe there are several academic centers for the research of antisemitism.

Why have we failed?

There are strategic plans in place for combating antisemitism, such as in the US and France, as well as in the European Union. In addition, there is the (legally non-binding) Working Definition of Antisemitism formulated by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), adopted by 43 countries and more than 1,200 institutions and organizations worldwide, among them the United Nations, the EU, and others.

With such an impressive number of influential active actors involved, the mission should have succeeded. Instead, there is widespread failure. Efforts in combating antisemitism are unfocused, scattered and, most important, without central leadership. They also lack a sufficient budget. The total expenditure on combating antisemitism doesn’t come close to the $175 billion invested each year for the last 15 years in combating terrorism.

Antisemitism is one of the oldest and most persistent forms of hatred in history. Its roots extend back thousands of years, and it has manifested in various forms across different cultures and societies.  It has been named “the longest hatred,” “a convenient hatred,” and, shockingly, “fun.”

Factors for antisemitism, namely religious prejudice, socioeconomic factors, cultural stereotypes, political scapegoating, nationalism and ethnic identity, conspiracy theories, historical events, ignorance and misinformation, and political extremism, suggest that it is practically impossible to eliminate.

Therefore, much as we delegitimize terror by continuing to wage war on terrorism, so too we absolutely must continue to delegitimize antisemitism and not abandon our efforts to thwart it in all its many forms.

So, if we’re barely making a dent, what is it that we’re doing wrong? Four major issues are leading the existing frameworks to fail: the wrong concept of reducing antisemitism, the legally non-binding IHRA definition, a lack of funds, and most importantly, the lack of specific global leadership.

The concept of reducing antisemitism is erroneous, as “reduction” leads us to constantly accept an unspecified measure of antisemitism. Instead, we need to declare antisemitism as fully unacceptable and therefore totally delegitimize it, as has been done with delegitimizing terror.

We need legislation in each and every country to make IHRA’s working definition of antisemitism legally binding. Even though some countries have published worthwhile strategic plans for combating antisemitism, they need to formulate actual action plans, nominate coordinators, create follow-up mechanisms, and assign monies to their efforts.

 Today, there are no earmarked funds for combating antisemitism. For example, neither the US strategic plan nor the EU strategic plan includes specific funds specifically reserved for this purpose.

These are nevertheless essential for succeeding in a global war on antisemitism, thus enabling measuring the cost-effectiveness of the efforts.

We need global leadership to combat antisemitism. As such leadership is ultimately a Jewish matter, it is up to Israel to provide global leadership and conduct government-to-government deliberations.

Given the urgency of combating antisemitism, the focus of my proposal is on combining – and using existing tools to do so. Chief among them, are laws such as US Title VI of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance, that was effective in the current wave of antisemitism.

This must be adopted in the fight against antisemitism. It prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance. If a recipient of federal assistance is found to have discriminated, and voluntary compliance cannot be achieved, the federal agency providing the assistance should either initiate fund termination proceedings or refer the matter to the Department of Justice for appropriate legal action.

Battle plan against antisemitism

 With that in mind, I propose the following framework for a global ongoing war on antisemitism, a war to be led by Israel, with a meaningful role for the US, with its big Jewish community.

• Establishing an international steering team composed of governments and international organizations

• Establishing two permanent committees in Israel – a ministerial committee and a parliamentary committee

• Coordinating efforts with world Jewry.

• The involvement of NGOs.

• Encouraging every UN member country to create a revolving action plan, renewable every three to five years, setting milestones and schedules to attain them, and then regularly examining the results.

• Monitoring all countries’ working plans.

• Adopting, modifying, and legislating US Title VI

• Annually devoting a modest 1/10 of 1% of each government’s budget to implementing the working plan (estimated to yield a total of $24 billion per annum – a modest request when compared to the $175 billion per annum devoted to the war on terror)

• Encouraging all countries to become IHRA members.

• Legislating IHRA’s working definition of antisemitism.

• Teaching IHRA’s working definition of antisemitism in all schools.

• Combining education efforts with the Claims Conference (which received $58 million over four years from Germany for Holocaust education).

• Doubling the expenditure on antisemitism research in all universities and research institutions.

 A global war on antisemitism can and should begin right away. The framework proposed above can feasibly lead to an ongoing reduction of antisemitism, with the aim of eliminating it entirely. Its implementation, however, depends first and utmost upon the government of Israel and, ultimately, on every single one of us.

The writer is a historian, economist, activist, and a former adviser on Holocaust restitution at the Prime Minister’s Office, former senior director at the Finance Ministry, and author of an upcoming book on Holocaust restitution.