This bill establishes a National Coordinator to Counter Antisemitism within the White House and directs federal agencies to implement the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism issued in May 2023. It adopts and endorses the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism for use by federal, state, and local agencies. The IHRA definition includes the characterization that holding individual Jews responsible for Israeli government policies, or attacking Jews based on their support for Israel as a Jewish state, constitutes antisemitism.
Why it matters
This bill makes the IHRA working definition the official framework for federal antisemitism policy. The IHRA definition's 'contemporary examples' classify several forms of Israel criticism—including statements that Israel is 'a racist endeavor,' comparisons of Israeli actions to Nazi policies, and claims that Israel is held to unfair standards—as antisemitic. Adopting this definition as policy guidance could chill campus speech, civil rights complaints, and advocacy on Palestinian issues by treating them as hate speech under federal authority.