US envoy: Antisemitism threatens democracy and global security

US Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt calls antisemitism a “threat to democracy.”

“Anybody who buys into the conspiracy myth — which is the cornerstone of of antisemitism — that Jews control the media, banks, government elections, anybody who believes that has given up on democracy,” she says during a virtual event put on by her office.

“The objects of this prejudice [Jewish people]… has cause to wonder whether the authorities protect [them],” she continues, pointing to the anti-Israel protests that have swept college campuses across the country, which have sometimes left Jewish students feeling vulnerable to harassment.

Lipstadt says antisemitism is also a threat to international security because malign actors use it to try sew disunity, particularly in democratic societies.