The American Jewish Committee launched a new “playbook” for combatting antisemitism at its annual global forum in Washington on Sunday.
The document recommends strategies to address Jew-hatred in sectors including law enforcement, education and the private sector.
“The Jewish community and our allies have been asking for a proactive, visionary effort to not only scale the fight against antisemitism but to also address it in all its contemporary forms,” said Ted Deutch, CEO of the committee.
“AJC’s ‘Combating Antisemitism Playbook’ delivers exactly that,” Deutch said. “From academia to social media and AI companies, AJC’s playbook gives leaders across society clear, practical ways to understand, respond to and prevent antisemitism and in doing so, help shape and support a thriving Jewish community.”
Some 2,000 Jews and supporters of the Jewish community came from 34 states and 70 countries to discuss the challenges facing Jews in the United States, Israel and around the world for the conference, which continues through Tuesday.
In a panel discussion on the rise of contemporary Jew-hatred and anti-Israel sentiment on Monday, Dara Horn, author of the book People Love Dead Jews, traced the origins of antisemitism in what is unique about Jews.
“Jews spent 3,000 years not being like everyone else. Uncoolness is Judaism’s brand,” Horn said. “Everybody had a Marvel cinematic universe of sexy deities. We’re in the corner with the bossy, unsexy, invisible God.”
Horn said that it was a mistake to teach that antisemitism is a form of bigotry like discrimination against other groups when the foundation of Jew-hatred is both distinctive and unchanging.
“The lie is always the same. It’s not shapeshifting, morphing—nope. Always the same,” she said. “Jews are destroying what you value the most. The only thing that changes is what you value the most in different social circles, different eras.”
Other speakers at the conference included San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, a Democrat, who spoke about his relationship with Ofir Libstein, the head of the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council, whom Hamas killed on Oct. 7.
“It’s personal. This was a friend,” Gloria said. “My support of the people of Israel and for our Jewish communities comes from my own conviction that everyone deserves safety and peace. That principle applies to our Jewish communities, our Muslim communities, our Latino communities, to any community that is impacted by discrimination, fear or violence.”
AJC also gave a posthumous award named for Libstein to Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, two Israeli embassy staffers, who were killed outside of an AJC event at the Capital Jewish Museum in 2025. The two planned to get engaged.
The alleged shooter reportedly shouted “free Palestine” and other anti-Israel slogans during and after the shooting.
Milgrim’s and Lischinsky’s parents accepted the award on their behalf on Sunday and called for the legacy to be one of seeking peace and dialogue.
“We would have liked to see them getting married. We would have liked to play with their children,” said Yaron’s parents, Daniel and Ruth Lischinsky. “What was their crime? Being Jewish and being Israeli.”
“Trying to find a better way to introduce humanitarian help to Gaza—that was the subject of that AJC meeting at the Capital Jewish Museum here in Washington, D.C.,” they said.
Iranian-American women’s rights and democracy activist Masih Alinejad and former Trump and Biden administration officials were among the other speakers who addressed the forum.
