There is no shortage of suggestions about how to address the alarmingly freewheeling reality of antisemitism and hate crimes against Jews. President Joe Biden’s recent ambitious formulation, the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, is perhaps among the more elaborate and wide-reaching of the recent efforts, but it is long on rhetoric and short on meaningful ideas about what to do next. This is not a rap against Mr. Biden – all such formulations typically suffer from a lack of specificity.
It is for this reason that we were taken with the speech U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered at the AIPAC conference on June 5. He spoke not only about America’s continuing support for Israel, but about how Israel has contributed to America’s well-being as well – indeed, he referred to the relationship as a “partnership” that “touches on every aspect of our lives, from security to business, from energy to public health.” The cooperation between the U.S. and Israel has “not only delivered for one another but for countries around the world,” he said, “making deserts bloom, developing the clean energy technologies of the future, producing vaccines, charting the future of space exploration, and so much more.”
“This partnership between the United States and Israel,” he said, “is indispensable.”
He spoke about how the United States is advancing Israel’s security and its own by “working to deepen Israel’s relationships with its neighbors, to advance our goal of regional integration and de-escalation. Israel’s integration in the region contributes to a more stable, a more secure, and prosperous region.”
“A more integrated, prosperous, stable region serves the interests of Israel,” he said. “It serves the interest of our regional partners. It serves the United States.”
It seems to us that spreading the word about the contributions of Jews and Israel – and that they are givers, not takers – is the most promising antidote to antisemitism around.
