The Hill’s Changemakers: Deborah Lipstadt, special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism

Deborah Lipstadt’s role as special White House envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism has taken on increasing importance over the past year.  

Lipstadt, who was unanimously confirmed to the role in March 2022, has been at the forefront of the Biden administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism at a time when acts of hate against Jews have hit record levels, including a surge following Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attacks against Israel.  

A professor at Emory University who has taught about antisemitism and the Holocaust for decades, Lipstadt described fighting hatred against Jews as her “life’s work.” She designed exhibits at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and represented the White House in 2005 at an event marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. 

“I am an equal-opportunity foe of antisemitism,” she said in her February 2022 confirmation hearing. “Unless one is willing to fight Jew-hatred wherever one finds it, one should not be a nominee for this position.”  

The ambassador traveled in January with second gentleman Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish, to Poland to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day.   

She was a central player in developing the White House’s national strategy to counter antisemitism, a first-of-its-kind effort released in May that outlined how Congress, technology platforms and schools can all play a role in reversing the trend of rising cases of vandalism and violence targeting Jews.  

More recently, Lipstadt has been meeting with counterparts from Israel and Europe to address the fallout of the October Hamas terrorist attacks, which has included a surge in antisemitic incidents both in the U.S. and internationally, according to the Anti-Defamation League.  

Lipstadt and more than two dozen of her international counterparts have condemned social media platforms for amplifying antisemitic messages, denounced antisemitic messages on college campuses and urged governments to provide security for Jewish communities following the Hamas attacks.