“On behalf of the more than 100 Jewish communities across the globe affiliated with the World Jewish Congress, I welcome the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas after more than 11 days of violence and bloodshed caused by Hamas’ terrorist barrage of rocket attacks aimed at Israel’s civilian population," Lauder said in a statement.
Lauder also gave praise to multiple world leaders and political figures who voiced their support of Israel during the conflict, as it saw thousands of rockets fired into its territory from the Gaza Strip.
“We stand resolutely and unambiguously with Israel and express our deep appreciation to US President Joe Biden and other world leaders for their repeated recognition of Israel’s absolute right to defend itself against terrorist onslaught, in whatever form it may come," he said.
Lauder also discussed the numerous casualties in both Israel and Gaza due to the fighting that was "a result of Hamas hatred and disregard for the sanctity of human life," and urged for Israel and the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table to work towards a two-state solution.
The ceasefire, mediated by Egypt, has seen a cessation of overt hostilities between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip since it was implemented early Friday morning. However, there has been a notable upsurge of antisemitic incidents worldwide since the conflict began, and even as the ceasefire was put into place.
Referencing this, Lauder said that "we condemn in the strongest possible terms the horrendous outbreaks of antisemitic manifestations in the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict, with anti-Israel demonstrators targeting synagogues and Jewish community centers, and seeking to blame Jews around the world for the latest Middle East violence."
He added that: "We are also outraged by the surge of virulently antisemitic hate speech across social media with posts on major platforms featuring Holocaust imagery, conspiracy myths and Nazi glorification.
"I call on governments and authorities everywhere to take all necessary measures to protect all Jewish communities, Jewish institutions and individual Jews. And I call on social media organizations to immediately rid their platforms of vile posts that promote violence against Jews with such vile declarations as, ‘Hitler was right,’" he concluded.