December 5, 2022 — Washington, D.C.
American Jewish Committee (AJC) CEO Ted Deutch thanked the White House for convening a roundtable discussion on combating antisemitism with the heads of U.S. Jewish organizations.
The meeting is slated to be held Dec. 7. AJC has long advocated for such a meeting in a time when antisemitism and other hate crimes in the U.S. have dramatically increased in recent years.
“Antisemitism is not a problem for the Jewish community alone. Venomous hate targeting Jews threatens American society, indeed our democracy,” Deutch said. “By convening this important roundtable, the Biden administration has demonstrated that it recognizes the severity of the problem and is committed to taking additional steps, in partnership with the Jewish community, to more effectively confront antisemitism in all its forms.”
Deutch also recommended that President Biden appoint a task force charged with creating a national action plan to combat antisemitism.
Establishing such a task force is one of the key proposals in A Call to Action Against Antisemitism, AJC’s comprehensive society-wide nonpartisan guide to addressing antisemitism in America. The Call to Action provides U.S. leadership in all sectors of society with the knowledge and tools to understand, respond to, and prevent antisemitism. Recommendations for the Executive Branch can be found here.
AJC, the leading global Jewish advocacy organization, has long spearheaded initiatives to raise awareness of the multiple forms and sources of antisemitism and concrete policy recommendations for addressing the age-old hatred.
AJC’s annual State of Antisemitism in America Report, based on surveys of the Jewish and general populations, revealed that only 65% of Americans know what the term “antisemitism” means, 18% have heard it but are unsure what it means, and 16% have never heard of the term.
The AJC report also found that 39% of American Jews had changed their behavior out of fear of antisemitism, including taking steps to hide their Jewish identity, and 24% reported they have been the targets of antisemitism.
