The time has come for a domestic anti-Semitism czar in the US
Originally published by Newsweek
Anti-Semitism continues to be on the rise in the United States, which does not have a domestic anti-Semitism czar in the White House. The recent unprecedented wave of violent assaults targeting Jews on the streets of our cities, with almost 200 anti-Semitic incidents reported during the recent Israel-Gaza conflict, makes the need for creating this White House position now more urgent than ever before.
In my term as deputy special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism at the State Department, I spent much of my time advocating with diplomats of foreign countries for best practices in fighting the world’s oldest hatred. High on that list was the importance of every country having a point-person for the Jewish community to report any anti-Semitic incidents or attacks—but even more importantly, someone who can be held accountable for the policies that affect the safety and security of local Jewish communities.
More than once, while I was holding these conversations with my international counterparts, it occurred to me that we at home in the United States face the same rise in anti-Semitism as most other countries around the world. Yet we do not have our own domestic anti-Semitism czar.
Ms. Cohanim was the State Department’s first Iranian-born Envoy, and led diplomatic initiatives which resulted in forging groundbreaking partnerships in the Arab world to combat anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism and Islamophobia. Ms. Cohanim also persuaded the first-ever Muslim faith group to adopt the IHRA working definition of anti-Semitism, all as part of the Abraham Accords efforts. As Deputy Envoy, Ms. Cohanim was the lead official for the State Department in creating and implementing policy on countering anti-Semitism in the Near East and Western Hemisphere regions. She worked closely with Jewish communities in Venezuela, Chile, Argentina and Colombia in confronting local issues of anti-Semitism.
Ms. Cohanim can often be seen on Fox News and Newsmax; and is a contributor to National Review, Newsweek, The Hill and Washington Examiner.
Ellie Cohanim arrived as a child refugee to the US, after she and her family fled the escalating anti-Semitism in Iran during the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Previously, Ellie Cohanim was Senior Vice President and Special Correspondent for the Jewish Broadcasting Service (JBS) and was an executive at Yeshiva University; The Jewish Theological Seminary; and UJA-Federation of New York. She serves on the boards of the Iranian-American Jewish Federation of NY and Latino Coalition for Israel; and has previously served on the boards of the American Jewish Committee (AJC-NYR), the New York Jewish Community Relations Council, and the Ester Chapter of Hadassah.
Ellie Cohanim received her B.A. in Political Science, Cum Laude, from Barnard College, Columbia University; and conducted graduate study in International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is fluent in Hebrew and Farsi, familiar with German, Arabic and Spanish.
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