51 Fall 2026 Evidently the White House realized that the Lantos bill, which it had so strenuously opposed, could be a political asset. Just before a campaign appearance in heavily-Jewish West Palm Beach, Florida, President Bush signed the Lantos bill into law. “This nation will keep watch” against antisemitism, the President vowed. “Extending freedom also means disrupting the evil of anti-Semitism.” Afterwards, the Miami Herald reported, “at every stop” in Florida, “Bush told the crowd that he’d earlier in the day signed” the Lantos bill.23 Having won Florida by just 537 votes four years earlier — an outcome that was pivotal to the election — the Bush campaign knew every Jewish vote in the state was crucial. Treading Lightly The Lantos bill did not specify a deadline for naming the new envoy, and the administration did not rush to do so. Meanwhile, the State Department in early 2005 issued the first report on global antisemitism, as required by the Lantos law. It included the first official U.S. government definition of antisemitism. In effect codifying Secretary Powell’s stance in Berlin, the definition stated that “the demonization of Israel or vilification of Israeli leaders, sometimes through comparisons with Nazi leaders, and through the use of Nazi symbols to caricature them, indicates an anti-Semitic bias rather than a valid criticism of policy concerning a controversial issue.” The remainder of the report, however, left something to be desired. Coincidentally or not, it minimized the antisemitism sponsored by Arab regimes with which the administration was seeking friendly relations. Thus the section on Saudi Arabia, a major promoter of antisemitism, was 182 words long, while Iceland was given 387 words, even though the report could find only a single instance of antisemitic harassment and one hostile cartoon there. Only 86 words were devoted to the Palestinian Authority, despite the antisemitism permeating the PA’s official newspapers, schools, and media. More space was devoted to Armenia (194 words), Brazil (149 words), and Azerbaijan (142 words), countries where there was no evidence of government-sponsored antisemitism.24 In the spring of 2006, eighteen months after the Lantos bill became law, the Bush administration announced that former congressional staffer Dr. Gregg Rickman, who had worked extensively on Holocaust restitution issues, would serve as ambassador for fighting antisemitism. He would be responsible for tracking outbreaks of antisemitism around the world, meeting with foreign government officials, and keeping the issue in the public spotlight. Rickman’s first report, issued in late 2007, was burdened by the State Department’s preference for treading lightly on countries it was anxious to avoid offending. The section on Egypt emphasized that “anti-Semitism is found in both the pro-government and opposition press”; an anti-Jewish series that was broadcast on a private Egyptian television station was mentioned, but the antisemitic programs on government-controlled television stations were not. The section on Saudi Arabia pointed to “substantial societal prejudice based on ethnic or national origin,” while sidestepping the antisemitism in the Saudi government-controlled media and schools. The Palestinian Authority “prohibited calls for violence, displays of arms, and racist slogans, although this rarely was enforced,” the report cautiously noted. The racist slogans in the PA’s media and schools went unmentioned.25 New Challenges In the aftermath of Rickman’s report, the State Department halted its practice of issuing a stand-alone report on global antisemitism, and instead folded information gathered by the antisemitism envoy into its annual report on human rights around the world. This deprived the antisemitism issue of focused attention, which was a central aim of the Lantos initiative. 23. Lesley Clark, “‘Turn out the vote,’ Bush Tells S. Florida,” MIAMI HERALD (Oct. 17, 2004); Richard W. Stevenson, “Bush Hops through Florida, Where a Slim Lead Is a Lot,” N.Y. TIMES (Oct. 17, 2004); “Bush Signs Global AntiSemitism Law,” AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE (Oct. 16, 2004). 24. “Report on Global Anti-Semitism,” U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND LABOR (Jan. 5, 2005). 25. U.S. Department of State, Archive, “Contemporary Global Anti-Semitism: A Report Provided to the United States Congress” (Jan. 20, 2000 – Jan. 20, 2009), available at https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/102406.htm
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