29 Fall 2024 Following the European Model: The U.S. Responds European Jewish communities and civil society organizations were intimately involved in advocacy at the highest levels of the European Union and in individual European countries’ governments to ensure the adoption of these new tools. Civil society played a similar role in the announcement and subsequent development of a U.S. plan. Many Jewish organizations and community leaders urged the White House to publish a strategy focused solely on countering domestic antisemitism.15 On December 12, 2022, the White House announced the creation of an interagency group whose first task would be to develop a national strategy to counter antisemitism.16 The interagency group, led by the White House’s Domestic Policy Council, National Security Council, and the Office of the Second Gentleman, included an Interagency Policy Committee (IPC) composed of members from multiple federal agencies of the U.S. government. The U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism played a critical role within this body, given best practices and insights the office obtained from antisemitism strategies published overseas. The next five months saw a flurry of activity. To develop the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, the interagency group held listening sessions with more than 1,000 Jewish, interfaith, and civil rights stakeholders.17 The group met with antisemitism special envoys from all over the world to learn best practices on strategy development and implementation.18 They also engaged members of Congress and leaders across civil society and the private sector. According to the White House, these listening sessions with stakeholders sought their perspectives, analysis, expertise, and views on how antisemitism manifests today and how we should fight it at every level, from the national scale to the grassroots. These discussions both provided critical insights into the experience of antisemitism in America and produced concrete ideas to counter it.19 On May 25, 2023, the White House published the strategy. President Biden formally announced it, noting that “it is the most ambitious and comprehensive U.S. government-led effort to fight antisemitism in American history.”20 U.S. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, National Security Advisor Ambassador Susan Rice, Homeland Security Advisor Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, and U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, joined the President, who made clear that antisemitism in America was “not simply wrong,” but is immoral, unacceptable, and “it’s on all of us to stop it.”21 The Plan Itself The U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism is a holistic and multi-tiered plan that integrates both responsive and preventative measures to address 15. The author can speak directly to the involvement of American Jewish Committee (AJC). After recommending to White House staff to create a national action plan in November 2021, AJC issued its Call to Action Against Antisemitism in America in September 2022 and publicly requested the formation of an interagency task force charged with creating a national action plan to address antisemitism in America. “AJC’s Call to Action Against Antisemitism in America,” AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE, available at https://www.ajc.org/call-toaction; see also “AJC CEO Ted Deutch To Join in White House Roundtable on Antisemitism,” AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE (Dec. 5, 2022), available at https://www. ajc.org/news/ajc-ceo-ted-deutch-to-join-in-white-houseroundtable-on-antisemitism 16. White House Statement, “Statement from White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Inter-Agency Group to Counter Antisemitism,” THE WHITE HOUSE (Dec. 12, 2022), available at https://www.whitehouse. gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/12/12/ statement-from-white-house-press-secretary-karine-jeanpierre-on-inter-agency-group-to-counter-antisemitism/ 17. The content of this footnote has been removed for brevity. Available at IJL website: https://bit.ly/Huffnagle 18. “International Antisemitism Envoys Join AJC-Convened White House Meeting as Part of U.S. Strategy to Fight Antisemitism,” AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE (Feb. 28, 2023), available at https://www.ajc.org/news/ international-antisemitism-envoys-join-ajc-convenedwhite-house-meeting-as-part-of-us-strategy 19. Supra note 1, at 11. 20. Id., at 2. 21. Announcement, “Launch of U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism,” THE WHITE HOUSE (May 25, 2023), available at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=xPt8ZWreEjE
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