In 2022, Deborah Lipstadt was named as the special envoy for monitoring and combating anti-Semitism abroad by the Biden administration. She initiated her role by making visits to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with the aim of persuading their leadership to help limit the spread of anti-Semitic sentiments amongst Muslims worldwide. Lipstadt, a distinguished academic in genocide and anti-Semitism before her new governmental position, believed the encounter with these Middle Eastern leaders to be fruitful, and there appeared to be an open, engaging conversation about the issues. However, the constellation changed following the atrocities of the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which marked the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust of World War II. Subsequently, the intense opposition and catastrophic following responses that ensued, killing a multitude of Palestinians, displacing close to the entire population of Gaza, and reducing the territory to ruin, completely altered the approach of addressing anti-Semitism.

Lipstadt, now back to teaching at Emory University, refused an invitation to teach at Columbia University, citing dissatisfaction with the institution’s perceived handling of similar issues. She publicly argues that the current atmosphere allows for propagation of anti-Semitic views under the guise of legitimate political critique and calls for action to delineate the line between political dissent and anti-Semitism. The former Biden envoy calls for retaliatory action from the government and recognition from academia, criticizing the U.N. Special Committee’s imputation of genocide against Israel, arguing against the conflation of political critique with anti-Semitism, and disavowing any stance that purportedly denies the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/world/middleeast/deborah-lipstadt-antisemitism.html