Make Jews Feel Safe Again

President-elect Donald Trump has a mandate from the voters to take swift action on a variety of policies that he promoted during his campaign, and few are more urgent than the fight against antisemitism. The new administration should immediately appoint its envoy to fight antisemitism — there are several excellent candidates, including outspoken Harvard graduate Shabbos Kestenbaum — and equip him or her with the resources to take several key steps:

1. Immediately readopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition, which protects criticism of Israel but defines extreme anti-Israel criticism as antisemitic, was adopted explicitly by President Trump in his first term, but was set aside by President Joe Biden in his 2023 “strategy” on antisemitism. The new envoy should urge Trump to readopt the IHRA definition in all agencies of the federal government.

The new envoy should urge Trump to readopt the IHRA definition in all agencies of the federal government.

2. Urge USCIS to use questions to screen out anti-Israel immigrants. Currently the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services asks questions of potential immigrants, such as: “Have you ever been associated with or a member of the Communist Party, the Nazi Party, or a terrorist organization?” An additional question is needed: “Have you ever advocated for an end to the existence of the State of Israel?” People who answer “yes” should be denied entry.

3. Urge the State Department and the Treasury to sanction countries, international organizations, and officials that tolerate antisemitism. When the United Nations tolerates antisemitism, singling out Israel for demonization, its officials never face accountability. The U.S. should sanction U.N. officials — such as International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan — and withdraw again from the obsessively anti-Israel U.N. Human Rights Council.

4. Push the Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division to take action. Under the Biden-Harris administration, the DOJ’s Civil Rights division was almost completely absent as Jews’ civil rights were violated on campuses and in cities nationwide. The new antisemitism envoy should ensure that the DOJ takes legal action, both criminal and civil, against individuals and groups that have targeted Jews — and against the people who have funded such attacks.

5. Work with the Department of Education to remove accreditation of colleges and universities that allow antisemitism. No institution of higher learning should receive federal funding if it tolerates antisemitism — including classes and curricula that advocate for the destruction of Israel. Colleges should be required to certify that such material is not being taught and that federal funds are not being used to indoctrinate students to hate Israel.

Work with the Department of Education to remove accreditation of colleges and universities that allow antisemitism. 

6. Develop model curricula to introduce the Bible as literature. Antisemitism spreads most easily when students have no idea about the Judeo-Christian origins of our civilization. Without encroaching on the First Amendment separation of church and state, schools should be able to teach the Bible as literature, so that there is some common foundation of knowledge among each generation of Americans, including immigrants from countries where Judaism and Christianity may be unfamiliar.

7. Encourage public observance of Aug. 18 as Religious Freedom Day. On Aug. 18, 1790, President George Washington wrote a letter “to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island,” promising not only that all Americans would enjoy religious liberty under the new Constitution, but also that Jews specifically would never have any reason to fear in the United States. Aug. 18 is an opportunity to remind Americans of that historic commitment.

8. Encourage Jews and Jewish institutions to take up firearms and training. One of the most effective deterrents to attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions is to have armed guards present. In addition, Jews need to overcome our habitual reluctance to become familiar with weapons that many Israelis encounter as a matter of course during their military service. At times the best protection of our First Amendment religious liberty is the Second Amendment.

9. Become an ombudsman, monitoring government and society. Often the antisemitism envoy reacts to events as they happen. In a new Trump administration, the antisemitism envoy should take a more proactive role, asking government departments and large institutions to report on what they are doing to combat antisemitism. It is no longer acceptable to take a passive stance against the growing problem, as too many have done. Enough is enough.

Joel B. Pollak is senior editor-at-large at Breitbart News in Los Angeles.