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At Aspen Ideas Festival, White House panel bypasses mention of Israel

“To not mention Israel when discussing antisemitism is not only irresponsible, but dangerous,” tweeted the nonprofit watchdog StopAntisemitism.

Aspen Ideas Festival. Credit: www.aspenideas.org.
Aspen Ideas Festival. Credit: www.aspenideas.org.

At an Aspen Ideas Festival panel on June 27, moderated by journalist Katie Couric, two people close to the White House discussed the Biden administration’s new U.S. National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism. Neither Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish and married to Vice President Kamala Harris, nor Liz Sherwood-Randall, White House homeland security advisor, mentioned Israel during the hour-long panel, Jewish Insider reported.

Israel appears in the strategy, but it and “the ways that anti-Zionism can translate into antisemitism” have “been absent from White House public messaging on the document,” added Jewish Insider.

The annual festival in Aspen, Colo., is being held this year from June 24 to June 30. The program nominates individuals worldwide for their accomplishments and dedication to improving their communities and making advances in their field of work, according to its website.

“To not mention Israel when discussing antisemitism is not only irresponsible, but dangerous,” tweeted the nonprofit watchdog StopAntisemitism. “Approximately half of the world’s Jews live in Israel. [And more than] 90% of Jews globally are Zionists.”

“This political environment could discourage congressional committee staff and federal agency personnel from pursuing investigations or enforcement actions involving antisemitism,” Karen Paikin Barall of the Brandeis Center told JNS.
“They get social credit within their political bases in terms of talking about settler violence and and taking up the side of the Palestinians on issues between them and Israel,” Rafael Mangual of the Manhattan Institute told JNS.
The U.S. envoy also said antisemitism “didn’t exist” during his upbringing and warned of an unintended clash between Israel and Turkey.
“There is not, and there will not be, a Palestinian state,” the Israeli prime minister pledged. He also called for the corruption trial against him to be dropped.