The proliferation of anti-Semitic incidents in Europe and the US – as documented by the Jewish People Policy Institute’s Anti-Semitism Index – amounts to a quantum leap and reflects a waning of Holocaust awareness. To cope with this new situation, the Israeli government and major Jewish organizations will have to take steps of a whole different order and adopt new modes of thinking to replace those that have become entrenched over the past few decades.
We recommend that the Israeli government entrust the handling of anti-Semitic incidents to a single body with powers and executive ability. For this purpose, a governmental operational entity should be established and given appropriate resources for multidisciplinary action. This entity will monitor the scope of anti-Semitism and assess the nature of the threat (among other things, it will develop uniform indices for evaluating anti-Semitism in the various spheres where it presents itself). Based on its assessment, the entity will formulate an overall policy, set operational initiatives in motion vis-à-vis governments, Jewish communities, and other relevant parties, coordinate implementation between the various relevant bodies, and monitor effectiveness. The entity will launch initiatives in the spheres of education, legislation/law, diplomacy, hasbara (publicity/informational activity), the new media, security in the communities, and more.