Jewish organizations are calling on the U.S. Senate and its Foreign Relations Committee to hold a hearing on and confirm historian, author and Emory University professor Deborah Lipstadt for the role of U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat anti-Semitism following reports that her nomination is being delayed by Republicans.
The Orthodox Union, Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Federations of North America sent a joint letter to Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and ranking member Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) highlighting the role’s importance and the need to confirm Lipstadt quickly, despite their organizations normally not supporting or opposing nominees.
“The global Jewish community needs the United States to be a leader in the fight against anti-Semitism, and we must not waste more time leaving our lead official in this fight off the field. … There is no question that [she] has the credentials to deserve a proper hearing before the Committee on Foreign Relations—and that hearing is now overdue.”
B’nai B’rith International also joined the chorus to pressure Republicans to end their obstruction of her nomination.
“The special envoy position is vitally important to the fight against the dramatic rise in anti-Semitism globally in all of its manifestations,” wrote B’nai B’rith president Charles Kaufman and CEO Dan Mariaschin in a statement on Friday. “The hold on Lipstadt’s confirmation must be lifted quickly so she may assume the post and commence this important work.”
Lipstadt, the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, is a Holocaust historian and author known for defeating a libel lawsuit from British Holocaust-denier David Irving in the late 1990s. She was nominated for the special envoy position by Biden in July. The position was created in 2004, but upgraded to the rank of ambassador in 2020, requiring the nominee to be confirmed by the Senate.