The House Appropriations Subcommittee on State Department and Foreign Operations has received acclaim for authorizing a substantial increase of $1 million to the budget of the State Department's Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, currently headed by Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt.
The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) has publicly applauded the move, voicing hopes that the increased funding will support the addition of permanent staff in the office, among other key provisions.
"With antisemitism surging across the globe, the additional funds for which we advocated will increase the Special Envoy's capacity to ensure we are leveraging all of our diplomatic tools to help improve the safety and security of at-risk Jewish communities and hold world leaders to account," said Elana Broitman, SVP of Public Affairs at JFNA.
JFNA has played a significant role in working closely with the administration to advance measures aimed at combating antisemitism on the local, state, and federal levels. This collaboration culminated in May when the White House released a new plan to combat antisemitism, garnering praise from the Jewish Federations.
This increase in the Special Envoy's budget reflects bipartisan support in Congress and also a persistent push from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to address the urgent issue of global antisemitism. Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO, expressed his approval of the development.
Global rise in antisemitism
He stated, "The data is clear: We are facing a crisis of rising global antisemitism with incidents and attitudes at historic highs both in the US and in many countries abroad. This funding increase will ensure the office can grow to meet the challenges of the day and have the necessary resources to carry out its important work of fighting antisemitism around the world.”
The groundwork for this historic move was laid in March when a bipartisan group of US lawmakers, led by Representatives Grace Meng (D-NY), Kathy Manning (D-NC), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Susan Wild (D-PA), Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), David Kustoff (R-TN), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Don Bacon (R-NE), submitted a letter to the Subcommittee requesting an increase of $500,000 to the Special Envoy's budget.
The requested funds would "help the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism better fulfill its mission of fighting antisemitism across the globe," read a statement from Rep. Meng's office.
The increased funding proposal now awaits approval by the full House and Senate.