From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Leading US Jewish groups denounce federal crackdown under ‘guise of fighting antisemitism’
Luke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent.
Ten US Jewish groups denounce the Trump administration’s crackdown on universities and non-citizen activists.
The organizations say federal actions threaten Jews’ safety, despite the administration’s claim that the effort is in response to antisemitism.
“These actions do not make Jews — or any community — safer. Rather, they only make us less safe,” the statement says. “We reject any policies or actions that foment or take advantage of antisemitism and pit communities against one another.”
Signatories include the Union for Reform Judaism, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, the National Council of Jewish Women, the American Conference of Cantors, HIAS, the Rabbinical Assembly, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association.
A swath of American Jewry, including leaders of the Reform community, is alarmed about the Trump administration’s crackdown due to perceived threats to due process and free speech while acknowledging that action is needed to combat rampant antisemitism. The statement released today is another expression of those concerns.
“There should be no doubt that antisemitism is rising — visible, chilling, and increasingly normalized in our public discourse, politics, and institutions. It requires urgent and consistent action by our nation’s political, academic, religious, and civic leaders,” the statement says. “At the same time, we firmly reject the false choice between confronting antisemitism and upholding democracy. Our safety as Jews has always been tied to the rule of law, to the safety of others, to the strength of civil society, and to the protection of rights and liberties for all.
“It is both possible and necessary to fight antisemitism—on campus, in our communities, and across the country—without abandoning the democratic values that have allowed Jews, and so many other vulnerable minorities, to thrive,” the statement says.
