Jewish think tank calls on Israeli gov't to form antisemitism task force

Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with the JPPI President Prof. Yedidia Stern and Co-Chair of the JPPI, former Middle East envoy and Ambassador Dennis Ross this past Friday in Gantz's office at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Ross and Stern presented Gantz with the report, which was submitted to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and other ministers. The JPPI Annual Assessment of the situations and dynamics of the Jewish people has been submitted to Israeli governments every year since 2004.

In the report, emphasis was placed on the problematic weakening of bipartisan US support for Israel and growing anti-Israel opinions in congress. It was also noted that political polarization in the US has amplified the situation, with JPPI determining it to be a "strategic risk for Israel and for Jewish people."

"The rise in antisemitism has been increasingly driven by entities on the left which hope to delegitimize Israel and its right to self-defense. When we add to this a surge in antisemitism on the right, the outcome is that over half of US Jews now feel less secure than they did five years ago," Ross stated.

"We recommend that the State of Israel take decisive action to protect Jews in the Diaspora from this ugly wave of antisemitism. Israel's current efforts in this sphere are neither focused nor effective," Stern said. The organization proposed that "the government create a multidisciplinary task force to fight antisemitism. The task force would monitor the extent of the phenomenon, develop tools for combatting it, set overall policy, and launch initiatives vis-à-vis foreign governments, Jewish communities, and other relevant entities. It is our responsibility toward our fellow Jews in the Diaspora," he added.

JPPI noted that Gantz "took a favorable view" of the recommendation that a governmental task force be created.