In a powerful address delivered via video message, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio thanked Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar for the invitation to speak at the IHRA International Conference on Combating Antisemitism, chaired by Israel, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem.
Opening with a nod to Israel’s founding legacy, the official cited former Prime Minister Golda Meir’s famous remark that Moses spent 40 years leading the Israelites to the only place in the Middle East without oil. “But Israel’s wealth,” the official said, “was never beneath the ground—it lay in its people.” The Jewish state, he continued, was built by exiles and dreamers who transformed a desert into a high-tech powerhouse.
The speech drew a sharp contrast between Israel’s development and the decisions made by some of its neighbors. “Rather than emulate Israel’s success,” he said, “they chose war and impoverished their own people in a futile effort to destroy the Jewish state.”
He warned that antisemitism remains a persistent threat, describing it as “the world’s oldest bigotry” and “the world’s most futile.” Tracing its history from ancient empires to the Holocaust and modern terrorist groups like Hamas, he emphasized that while those regimes have crumbled, “Israel stands and the Jewish people prosper.”
Referencing the Abraham Accords, Rubio expressed cautious optimism. “There are signs,” he said, “that the future may be closer than we dare dream, but only if antisemitism is confronted and defeated."
The address turned somber as he referenced a recent attack in Washington, D.C., in which Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim were murdered outside the Capital Jewish Museum. Their lives were cut short, he said, “by a monster who did not care about Yaron’s faith or Sarah’s background.”
The attacker reportedly shouted “Free, free Palestine!” while being arrested, a detail the official highlighted as an example of how anti-Israel rhetoric can escalate into antisemitic violence. “There can be no nuanced separation of hatred of Israel and hatred of the Jewish people,” he said, condemning efforts to boycott or delegitimize Israel.
He also defended new U.S. visa restrictions targeting individuals accused of promoting antisemitism, and said international bodies would be held accountable for anti-Israel rhetoric. “There can be no coexistence with evil. There can be no nuance to hatred,” he said.
The speech concluded on a hopeful note. “We do see an eventual light at the end of this long tunnel of suffering,” he said, envisioning a Middle East where the Abraham Accords serve as a foundation for lasting peace.
