Jewish Leader: US-Israel Row Inciting Anti-Semitism

CBNNews.com

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

The latest tensions between the Obama administration and Israel are contributing to a rise in global anti-Semitism, World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder warned Tuesday.

In remarks before the House subcommittee overseeing global human rights issues, Lauder said when people around the world see "the best friend of Israel is having problems with them," it provokes negative attitudes toward Jews.

Lauder also warned that unless the United States acts decisively to defeat Islamic terrorism in the Middle East and Africa, "the flame of radical Islam could stretch across all of Europe as well."

"European leaders have stepped up and strongly condemned these attacks on Jews and the rise of anti-Semitism," Lauder said. "The United States must lead."

Lauder also criticized the absence of U.S. leaders at the anti-terror march in Paris following the attacks on the offices of the Charlie Hebdomagazine and a kosher supermarket in the city's suburbs last January.

"Many of the leaders in Europe linked arms in solidarity in the very front row, but there was not one U.S. representative with them in the front row," Lauder said. "I believe that sent a very negative message around the world."

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who chairs the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, told participants, "For the first time since the Holocaust, the physical security of Jewish communities in Europe has become a top-level concern. This is the horrifying state of affairs."