Joint Session of Congress
President Donald Trump addresses Joint Session of Congress in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 28, 2017. Photo courtesy of Reuters/Jim Bourg

US House of Representatives members ask Trump to retain ambassador to combat anti-Semitism

Following a report that President Trump is thinking of scrapping the ambassador position assigned to combat global anti-Semitism, a bipartisan group of 167 US House members sent a letter asking him to appoint one soon.

The letter, released Monday, asks Mr Trump to “maintain and prioritize” the appointment in a time of rising anti-Semitism.

“During previous administrations, this office was crucial in documenting human rights abuses against Jewish communities abroad as well as developing and implementing policies designed to combat anti-Semitism,” the letter states.

The effort to defend the office of the special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism comes after a Bloomberg news report that the position and others at the State Department – including an envoy to the Muslim world – were on the chopping block.

A former special envoy, Ira Forman, has been speaking out on the necessity of the job he once held, noting the office’s relatively tiny budget, and also predicting that it would be retained.

Hannah Rosenthal, who also held the job, wrote in The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle that without the special envoy, combating anti-Semitism will no longer be a priority in the State Department.

Read the full article by Lauren Markoe at Sight Magazine.