Second gentleman Doug Emhoff’s role as a leader confronting antisemitism – and, personally, his historic role as the first Jewish spouse of a president or vice president – has taken new significance this week.
“We witnessed a mass murder of innocent civilians,” Emhoff told Jewish leaders Wednesday at the White House, slamming his hand on the lectern as he described images of rockets falling, children sheltering from bullets and bodies lining Israeli streets after the attacks by Hamas.
“Many of us feel a deep fear that these attacks will unfortunately – and already have – led to a rise in antisemitism. We’re already seeing it,” he said.
The attacks on Israel by Hamas over the weekend shocked the world and sent ripples through the Biden administration. Amid concerns about rising antisemitism in the wake of the attacks, Emhoff – one of the White House’s most effective messengers on the issue – has stepped up his efforts to speak out and appears set to become a key face of the administration’s engagement with the Jewish community. Internal discussions about Emhoff’s plans to meet with the Jewish community in the coming days and weeks are ongoing, a source familiar with planning told CNN.
The attacks in Israel come after the Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism, which has tracked incidents of US antisemitic harassment, vandalism and assault since 1979, found 3,697 antisemitic incidents in the US in 2022, up a significant 36% from the previous year – and the highest on record.
Amid that backdrop, the roundtable – and Emhoff’s presence at it – held special significance for the leaders gathered at the White House. Eighty years ago this month, 400 rabbis from across the country marched to the White House, seeking a meeting with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, where they hoped to make an appeal to the president to rescue…
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