Curbing Jew-hatred became an official national U.S. strategy in May 2023, and after Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attacks later that year, local, state and federal bodies focused increasingly on surging antisemitism. Along the way, Deborah Lipstadt’s portfolio and office as special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism at the U.S. State Department has expanded, the outgoing envoy told reporters on Tuesday.

“I think that we have raised the profile,” the noted Holocaust historian, who taught at Emory University before her role in Foggy Bottom, said in her farewell briefing. 

The office has gone from being “simply about one particular group and the animus they faced” to “a larger issue of foreign policy, national security, national stability and societal cohesion,” she said.   

Instead of “only screaming and yelling and condemning what was going on,” Lipstadt told reporters that she sought “ to somehow get governments to take it seriously, to address it as a foreign policy concern that this has direct implications on your foreign policy, irrespective of whether you have a large Jewish community or not.”

In July 2024, Lipstadt and her office were a part of the Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism, a non-binding framework onto which Washington and dozens of countries and global bodies signed.

The guidelines carry the full weight of U.S. foreign policy and enshrine combatting Jew-hatred with other human rights priorities, according to Lipstadt and Aaron Keyak, her deputy special envoy who is also in the final days of his State Department term.

“These will automatically be part of human-rights offices throughout the world, and every embassy knows that this is a foreign-policy priority of the United States,” Keyak told reporters at the briefing. “We have a policy of protecting vulnerable populations or promoting democracy. This is now just one of those pillars.”

The guidelines also signal to other countries that their actions when it comes to Jew-hatred domestically—like in other areas, including religious freedom and women’s rights—will impact their relationships with Washington, according to Lipstadt.

The envoy also told reporters that her office received invitations to global meetings, such as the Munich Security Conference, Manama Dialog and Paris Peace Forum, where meeting people on the sidelines of the events is very important.

“Your presence showing up is a big deal because you’re signaling, ‘We take this seriously, and we see this as part of international dialogue,’” she said.

No reinventing the wheel

Lipstadt told reporters she is proud that when she and Keyak, who are both political appointees, depart on Monday, the rest of the roughly 20 staffers—a mix of civil servants, foreign service staffers and contractors—will remain. That office structure will ensure continuity that the government previously lacked, she said.

One place that does need more change is the United Nations, according to Lipstadt.

“There are officials inside the U.N. who have engaged in overt antisemitism, but I don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater,” she said. “If we can start to get it to take this issue seriously, then that would be worthwhile. Its record has not been great.”

She told reporters that a long-stalled plan to fight Jew-hatred at the United Nations, which the global body worked on with Jewish groups, remains “in the works.”

“Is it serious? A plan could be serious, but it’s only a plan,” she said. “It’s what’s done to implement it.”

Lipstadt told reporters about a previously unreported exchange that she had with António Guterres, the U.N. secretary-general, at a Munich synagogue.

After thanking Guterres for meeting often with the families of hostages being held in Gaza, Lipstadt mentioned the frequent antisemitic remarks of Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for Palestinian rights, who has drawn criticism from the U.S., German and French governments. Critics have said often that Guterres and the United Nations haven’t sufficiently denounced Albanese, who is considered an adviser to the global body and not an employee.

Lipstadt told reporters that Guterres said, within earshot of the press gaggle at the synagogue, of Albanese that “she’s a horrible person.” (JNS sought comment from Guterres.)

Fritz Berggren, a U.S. foreign service officer revealed to be the creator of a white nationalist website, is no longer a State Department employee, Lipstadt told reporters. More than 70 department employees had written to Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, in August 2021 calling for Berggren’s removal, but employment policies and laws appeared to protect Berggren.

“The legal details are not fully open, but it was an ending,” Lipstadt said. She didn’t specify if Berggren opted to leave or was fired.

Lipstadt and Keyak told reporters the person who carved a swastika into a State Department elevator in July 2021 has yet to be identified. The department’s headquarters in Foggy Bottom is closely guarded by officers, but there was no camera in the area of the elevator, they said.

The envoy was asked if Jew-hatred is more prevalent at the State Department after Oct. 7. Lipstadt said that mid-level staffers, who came out publicly against the department’s positions and policies on the Israel-Hamas war, shouldn’t be seen as antisemitic.

Her office faced “some internal resistance” from “some misinformed people,” who thought that it was essentially running cover for Israel, she added. She told reporters that no one ever approached her with such concerns.

She wouldn’t comment on or endorse a successor, but said only that she hopes the next envoy “will be a barn builder, not a barn burner.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to replace Blinken at the helm of the State Department, takes Jew-hatred seriously, according to Lipstadt. “That gives me hope on this issue,” she said.

“Some of the things I’ve done have been done quietly. Sometimes, they’ve succeeded. Sometimes, they haven’t. Speeches that were given, lines that were delivered, weren’t delivered,” Lipstadt told reporters. “I don’t want to speak out too much on everything. At some point, you’ll be dismissed as a partisan hack.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned on Wednesday at a Justice and Development (AK) Party meeting that "all countries should get their hands off Syria."

"Israel and all others attacking in Syria must end their aggressive actions at once," Erdoğan said. "Otherwise, there will be negative consequences that will affect everyone."

Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement shortly afterwards, saying, "Israel completely rejects the statement of the Turkish President.

"The aggressive imperialist actor in Syria (as well as in northern Cyprus, Libya, and other areas in the Middle East) is Turkey itself, and it is advisable for the Turkish president to avoid unnecessary threats,” it stated

"The State of Israel will continue to act to protect its borders from any threat," the Ministry added.

Erdoğan had been referring to the United States, France and other countries that are part of the Global Coalition to defeat ISIS, as well as Israel.

Israel has seized territory on its border with Syria and neutralized Syrian military assets in airstrikes to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Islamic group that ousted Syria's Bashar Assad on Dec. 8.

The Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham swept across Syria in 11 days to end the Assad regime. Turkey reportedly aided the group in its offensive.

Erdoğan is eager to destroy the Kurdish Syrian forces, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which control part of northeastern Syria and have been helping battle the Islamic State.

Turkey has designated the YPG a terrorist organization and claims it is tied to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a militant group that launched an armed struggle against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an independent Kurdish state within Turkish territory.

At a Jan. 6 press conference, Erdoğan said that "the only fate awaiting those who choose terror and violence is to be buried in the ground with their weapons. I am saying this openly, no power can prevent this."

The Kurds have a long-standing relationship with Israel, but Israeli officials emphasize that Israel does not seek direct confrontation with Turkey. The issue of military protection for Kurdish autonomy in Syria is considered a responsibility of the U.S.

Turkey’s attempt to turn Syria into a client state, replacing Iran and Russia as a key influencer, is a growing concern for Israeli officials.

They view Turkey’s moves in Syria as carrying “the potential for heavy friction between the two countries [Israel and Turkey].”

Immediately after Bashar Assad’s fall, the IDF outlined two possible scenarios for Syria: the country would be ruled by Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa, leader of HTS, or a division of the country into cantons with varying levels of autonomy. The latter scenario is Israel’s preferred outcome.

On Jan 6, Erdoğan said Turkey would step in if Syria breaks up. “We will not consent to the disintegration of Syria or the disruption of its unitary structure under any guise. If we see a risk in this regard, we will take the necessary steps swiftly,” he stated.

Israeli officials say Turkey has become the most influential power in Damascus, replacing Iran’s Shi’ite axis with a Sunni-Turkish alignment. While this alignment is not yet seen as an outright adversary, it may offer safe harbor for terrorist groups.

In the final week of his presidency, U.S. President Joe Biden extended the national emergency that he declared on Feb. 1, 2024, in Judea and Samaria for another year, through Feb. 1, 2026.

Biden said that the emergency addresses "the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States constituted by the situation in the West Bank." (The Biden administration and some others refer to Judea and Samaria as "the West Bank.")

"The situation in the West Bank—in particular, high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages and property destruction—has reached intolerable levels and constitutes a serious threat to the peace, security and stability of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel and the broader Middle East region," the president stated.

"These actions undermine the foreign-policy objectives of the United States, including the viability of a two-state solution and ensuring Israelis and Palestinians can attain equal measures of security, prosperity and freedom," he said, adding that "they also undermine the security of Israel and have the potential to lead to broader regional destabilization across the Middle East, threatening United States personnel and interests."

Critics have said Biden has sanctioned individual Israelis, who pose no threat to America and have limited means, and that the Israeli judicial system can and does handle isolated instances of illegality and violence.

U.S. residents of Judea and Samaria are suing the Biden administration.

“American citizens have a right to be heard and to challenge the government before the government takes action against them or deprives them of some interest,” an attorney for the plaintiffs told JNS. “The Biden administration, with what appears to be zero due diligence, did just that.”

Incoming U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said in a podcast that aired on Wednesday that Hamas should have no role in governing Gaza, likening the group to terrorist organizations like Islamic State and Al Qaeda.

In a discussion with "Call Me Back" host Dan Senor, Waltz said of Hamas that it "astounds me that people try to put them in some type of special category. These are hostage-taking, murderous, rapist, torturers that never should ever have any role in governing."

He asserted that the Palestinian people should not be subjected to such leadership, as it hinders prospects for regional stability, emphasizing the necessity of eradicating Hamas to achieve a stable and peaceful future for the region.

The Republican representative from Florida's 6th District, whom U.S. President-elect Donald Trump tapped for the NSA role in November days after being reelected to a nonconsecutive second term, highlighted the "Trump effect" on dealing with Hamas and similar terrorist groups.

Waltz argued that during Trump's first term in the White House, rogue states and terrorist organizations faced significant deterrents, unlike in recent years, when they saw benefits.

"With President Trump, he made it very clear very early on, not just with Hamas, with groups around the world, there'll be nothing but downside. And after Jan. 20 (when Trump is sworn in for his second term), any deal that they thought was on the table is only going to get worse.

"And this is about imposing consequences for those who would do this type of horrendous act like we saw on Oct. 7, who would take Americans or other allies hostage," said Waltz. "Right now, sadly, there’s only upside. With President Trump, he made it clear there'll be nothing but downside. And I'm convinced that's why you're seeing this movement," he added.

Regarding the war in Gaza, Waltz emphasized that a ceasefire does not mark the end of Israel's objectives. He underscored the necessity of fully demilitarizing Gaza, dismantling Hamas to prevent its resurgence, and ensuring Israel's right to self-defense.

Waltz criticized Hamas for using Gaza's civilian population as shields for its actions, stressing the need to achieve strategic objectives while securing the release of hostages.

The two men also discussed the strategic transformation of the Middle East, highlighting Israel's strengthened geopolitical position. Waltz emphasized the importance of securing a normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel, referring to it as the next phase of the Abraham Accords.

He believes Iran's involvement with Hamas was an effort to derail this progress.

"So, that is the objective. Let's get our people out. Let's eliminate these terrorist organizations. And then let's start talking political solutions, economic solutions.

"I want to, by the end of President Trump's term, to be talking about infrastructure projects, water, rail, fiber, data centers. And the more we're talking about those big things, the less we'll be talking about, in my view, these historic agreements.

"Because, you know, regardless of your religion or background, you want a better life for your family, for your children, and for your future prospects. And I think we get, the more we get to that, the more we can put all of those other grievances in our rear view mirror. That's, I think that's the hope and it's absolutely achievable, especially with a deal maker like President Trump."

Israel’s Fire and Rescue Authority sent a team of five fire protection experts to California on Wednesday, in an effort to assist firefighters battling the wildfires still blazing in Los Angeles.

The delegation, which will remain in the United States for about a week, includes members who specialize in forest fire prevention, with experience gained from major blazes in Israel in past years.

Both Southern California and Israel share similar climates, with hot and dry summer seasons and only limited rain in the winter months. This, coupled with strong winds, contributes to the outbreak of wildfires.

Earlier this week, a volunteer Israeli search-and-rescue organization offered its assistance in dealing with the devastating wildfires raging in California. The unusual proposal by Zaka, which became known initially for its efforts to gather human remains following disasters, highlighted the group's South African teams, which are practiced in responding to fires.

Separately, the Israeli NGO IsraAID said on Sunday that it was planning to send an emergency response team to support communities affected by the fires.

The death toll in the California fires, which were the most destructive in the state’s history, has thus far risen to 25.

Ceasefire negotiations between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group reached a breakthrough in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday, Israeli sources involved with the talks told Hebrew media. The sources expressed hope that the deal could be announced as early as Thursday and implemented on Sunday.

According to Reuters, the Israeli negotiating team was set to update Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the progress in Doha during a scheduled conference call on Wednesday night.

The news agency said that Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Al Thani scheduled a press conference for Wednesday night.

However, Netanyahu's office released a statement emphasizing that "contrary to reports, the Hamas terrorist group has not yet returned its response to the deal."

A senior Israeli political source told Israel Hayom on Wednesday night that Jerusalem's negotiating team was informed that "the Hamas terror organization decided at the last minute to make new demands—this time regarding the Philadelphi Corridor, in contrast to the maps that have already been approved by the Cabinet and American mediators."

Preparations were reportedly being made in Jerusalem to convene the Security Cabinet, which is made up of senior ministers, and the full government to approve the ceasefire agreement on Thursday.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said in a statement shared by his office that he was cutting short his diplomatic visit to Europe and would return to Jerusalem on Wednesday night "to participate in the expected discussions and votes in the Security Cabinet and government."

An unidentified Palestinian source told Israel's Kan News that the breakthrough was achieved on Wednesday morning during a "crucial" meeting of Hamas's leadership. The source also said the truce could be announced on Thursday and be implemented 24 to 48 hours later.

According to The Wall Street Journal, mediators ironed out the terms on Tuesday night but were stuck waiting for Hamas's approval.

Citing Arab sources, the newspaper reported that Mohammed Sinwar, the de facto leader of Hamas in Gaza and brother of slain leader Yahya Sinwar, gave his "in principle" approval to the terms.

Sinwar's agreement reportedly came mere hours after Hamas publicly announced for the first time that negotiations were in its "final stages."

"There is a breakthrough in the hostage deal negotiations in Doha. Hamas' military leader in Gaza Mohammed Sinwar gave his OK," an Israeli official was quoted as confirming by Axios on Wednesday.

Saudi outlets Al Arabiya and Al-Hadath reported earlier on Wednesday that the terrorist organization was still reviewing "some of the terms" and asked the Qataris for several hours to formulate a response.

A Palestinian Islamic Jihad official told the AFP agency on Wednesday that a "high-ranking" delegation from the Iranian-backed terrorist organization had arrived in Qatar to participate in the negotiations.

The anonymous PIJ official said that "discussions are ongoing, focusing on the mechanism for implementing the ceasefire agreement and the names of Palestinian prisoners included in the exchange deal."

On Tuesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told NBC that the Islamic Republic and its terror proxies would not try to block the deal.

According to the Saudi outlets, Hamas has begun the process of dividing the hostages into groups ahead of their possible release. The terror group was also said to have reached out to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which helped provide some transportation services during the November 2023 ceasefire, during which Hamas released 105 hostages.

Meanwhile, Egyptian sources told Sky News Arabia on Wednesday that Cairo was carrying out "necessary preparations" at the Rafah Crossing with southern Gaza to prepare for an influx of aid as part of a deal.

The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that Hamas had accepted a draft deal, however, there has been no confirmation from the mediators—Qatar, Egypt and the U.S.—that an agreement has been finalized.

The three-phase deal will include the release of 33 hostages—women, children, elderly individuals and wounded civilians—over a 42-day period, in exchange for potentially hundreds of Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli prisons, including murderers, according to AP.

Hamas is holding 98 hostages, 94 of whom were taken during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre and four of whom were captured in 2014, according to the Israeli Prime Minister's Office. Thirty-six are deceased, including two from 2014 (Israeli Defense Forces Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul).

Thousands of Israelis demonstrated on Tuesday night at two separate rallies in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, respectively in favor and against the emerging ceasefire deal with Hamas.

According to the details of the agreement so far revealed, it would only secure the return to Israel of 33 hostages, dead and alive, in return for a 42-day ceasefire and the release of 1,300 Palestinian prisoners, including killers serving life sentences, as well as the return of hundreds of thousands of Gazans to the northern Gaza Strip. More hostages—Hamas has 98 of them, according to Israel—are to be released after the 42-day first phase of the ceasefire.

Israel's Ministerial Committee on National Security Affairs, also known as the State Security Cabinet, and the broader cabinet are set to vote on the deal. Hamas has not yet given its final answer on it, either, according to Israeli media reports on Wednesday.

Tzvika Mor, whose son Eitan is among the captives, came to the Jerusalem rally after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who held meetings with several families of hostages.

Mor argued against the creation of different tiers of hostages in the framework of the deal. The benefits Hamas will draw from the first tier will incentivize it to hold on to the following ones, he said.

“I don't understand how my son will return after the first wave of residents returning from the south to the north of the Gaza Strip, and humanitarian aid trucks, will strengthen Hamas,” he told Israel’s Channel 12 News.

“The selection my grandparents went through saved them from the Nazis,” Mor said, referencing how Nazis would let some Jews live while sending others to their deaths. “But the selection being made now could, God forbid, determine the fate of my son.”

Mor urged Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who oppose the deal, as well as “Likud ministers and Likud Knesset members to do everything to stop a deal that will result in us having 70 more Ron Arads," referring to the Israeli Air Force navigator who fell captive in 1986 and has not been recovered since.

Smortich has criticized and opposed the deal publicly. Ben-Gvir went further, implying he would leave the government and calling on Smotrich to do the same, which would topple the government altogether.

Mor is a leader of the Tikva Forum for Families of Hostages, which comprises families that object to making concessions to Hamas that they argue would endanger other Israelis or encourage Hamas to carry out future abductions.

In Tel Aviv, thousands attended a rally co-organized by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, a different group that has not stipulated such terms for a deal to retrieve the hostages. The Hostage and Missing Families Forum seeks an immediate deal as a matter of a moral duty, they say.

Eli Bibas, the father of hostage Yarden Bibas, spoke at the Tel Aviv rally, noting the passage of time since Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, abducted to Gaza his son, his daughter-in-law Shiri, and their sons, Ariel and Kfir, who were 4 years old and nine months old, respectively, when they were taken.  

"I try to imagine him running to me and calling, 'Grandpa Eli, a gift’,' Eli Bibas said of Kfir, who recently had his second birthday in captivity. “Mr. Prime Minister, the past year symbolizes for us as a people a year of disunity, destruction. The nightmare that has become the reality of our lives in the past year must end."

His family, whose redheaded children have become an icon of the campaign to free all hostages, is on the list of 33 hostages Israel has requested as part of the first phase, according to the Asharq Saudi news outlet. Since their abduction, there has been no indication as to whether they are alive or dead.   

Former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, whom Netanyahu fired in November citing trust issues, attended the Tel Aviv rally and endorsed its message.

"This deal is the right deal, it's important to do it. I support the Israeli government in making this deal," said Gallant. "I hope that national considerations will overcome political interests. The release of the hostages is a declared war goal. I am ashamed of what Smotrich and Ben Gvir are doing. It is not Zionist, not Jewish and not humane."

A prominent Israeli dance company that faced criticism for using the Palestinian flag in a recent performance in Tel Aviv is now facing boycott calls by the anti-Israel BDS movement.

The campaign to boycott the Tel Aviv-based Batsheva Dance Company comes ahead of its annual U.S. tour, which will include stops in California next month. Performances are scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, Berkeley and Santa Barbara, before moving on to New York in March.

“Stop Israel’s Dance of Death!!” the online BDS campaign reads, next to an illustration of skeletons dancing. An accompanying text says, “Boycott Batsheva Dance Company’s 2025 U.S. tour!”

The ad, which includes the venues of the performances in the United States, also calls for protests and urges people to join a wider academic and cultural boycott of Israel.

The boycott call comes less than a month after Israeli Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar asked Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to rethink continued state funding for the dance company. Zohar made the request after a performance that included the Palestinian flag among other national banners.

The company said at the time that the use of the Palestinian flag in the work was done “in a broad artistic context.”

Israel Defense Forces soldiers operating in Syria have confiscated more than 3,000 weapons and other gear belonging to the former Syrian Armed Forces since the fall of the Assad regime on Dec. 8, the army stated Wednesday.

Among the 3,300 assets seized from Syrian territory, the Technological and Logistics Directorate's Intelligence and Technical Haul Collection Unit seized firearms, anti-tank missiles and RPG systems, mortar shells, explosive devices, observation equipment and two tanks, the army said.

Since the start of the current war, which was sparked by the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border massacre of 1,200 people in southern Israel, IDF troops have seized more than 170,000 hostile assets from the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria, according to the IDF.

Forces of the IDF's 210th "Bashan" Division continue operations inside Syria to "provide security and protection for the residents of Israel and the Golan Heights in particular," Wednesday's IDF statement noted.

Since the fall of the Iranian- and Russian-backed Assad regime, Israeli forces have taken up positions inside and beyond the Golan buffer zone, including on the strategic Syrian side of Mount Hermon. The Israeli Air Force has conducted hundreds of strikes on former Assad military assets to prevent them from falling into the hands of hostile forces.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar vowed on Jan. 2 that Jerusalem would not allow another massacre to take place "on any front," writing on social media after a visit to IDF soldiers serving on the Syrian border.

Ahmed al-Sharaa, head of Syria’s Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group and the nation's de facto leader, has asked the United States to pressure Israel to withdraw from the Golan buffer zone and the peak of Mount Hermon.