Ted Deutch
Ted DeutchReuters

American Jewish Committee (AJC) CEO Ted Deutch added his voice to those calling for a new coordinated effort to fight the scourge of antisemitism at a high-level UN event last week.

At the summit on a global response to antisemitism, hosted by US Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, Deutch called on UN leader to do more to combat antisemitism at the United Nations.

He noted that the AJC has long supported the UN since it was founded in 1945, and will continue to use the world body to “seek multilateral engagement in the fight against antisemitism.”

He also praised Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for being “resolute in speaking out and condemning antisemitism” and for “pushing back against particularly toxic antisemitic narratives such as calls for Israel’s destruction.”

He also applauded UN initiatives to sound the alarm about rising antisemitism, including the 2019 report and 2022 Action Plan to Combat Antisemitism prepared by Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, the former Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion, and ongoing work by UNESCO.

However, he slammed the UN for allowing certain agencies to single out Israel repeatedly.

“It's no secret that certain bodies of the UN focus disproportionately on Israel, notwithstanding the efforts of the United States and so many of you here to change that,” he said, urging UN leaders to assist his organization in “breaking through indifference among some diplomats and some UN personnel to what happens here sometimes in these halls.”

Deutch expressed particular alarm about “insinuations that Israel itself, the world's only Jewish state, is a racist endeavor." He pointed to the “shameful” legacy of the UN General Assembly’s 1975 “Zionism is Racism” resolution, which took more than 15 years for the UN to revoke in 1991, following years of advocacy by AJC. He appealed to UN leaders to do more to ensure “that we never, ever see a return to that shameful moment” that took place in 1975.

He added that “we need UN officials to speak out” against narratives suggesting that the establishment of Israel and the nature of Zionism are racist and to acknowledge “that they’re false, that they’re harmful, that they’re dangerous.”

He went on to say that these false narratives are causing the spread of antisemitism by “helping to fuel the violence and hatred that endangers Jews around the world.”

Deutch also stressed that “promptly condemning antisemitic statements when they are expressed by diplomats at official [UN] meetings or made by personnel or persons associated with the UN is important.”

The event in the UN’s Economic and Social Council chamber, co-hosted by the United States, Israel, Canada, Argentina, Britain and Morocco, was held to discuss solutions to address the various manifestations of contemporary antisemitism in an era when it has risen to dangerous levels internationally.

Speaking at the event, Emhoff, the first Jewish spouse of an American vice president, said: “This moment requires bold collective action and urgency, not just concepts.”

“We must build coalitions to tackle this epidemic of hate,” he said. “We must bring together people from all backgrounds, faiths and ethnicities, because hate is interconnected. It affects everyone.”