Republicans and Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee condemned the recent surge in antisemitism across the U.S. but were divided when it came to assigning blame.
While Republicans pointed fingers at complacent attitudes by U.S. universities, Democrats called out some of President Donald Trump’s political appointees as being anti-semitic.
A rise in violent hate crimes against Jewish-Americans in recent months has caused antisemitism to become a growing topic of conversation among D.C. lawmakers. Last month, two employees of the Israeli embassy in Washington were murdered after leaving an event at a Jewish museum blocks from the U.S. Capitol.
Although Jewish-Americans make up just 2.4% of the U.S. population, they are the target of nearly 70% of religious hate crimes, Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Jefferson Van Drew, R-N.J., said Tuesday.
“Antisemitism at its core is incompatible with American values. It is un-American,” Van Drew said.
Van Drew criticized schools like Columbia University for turning a blind eye to protests “sympathetic to Hamas” on their campuses and argued that this complacency has caused antisemitism to continue to fester across American college campuses.
“When expressions cross the line into threats, intimidation or glorification of violence, that is not protest,” Van Drew said. “It is something far more dangerous.”
Van Drew also challenged the American immigration system for allowing international students to “abuse” the visa system and promote “hateful, extremist activity” within our country.
At the center of this argument is Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested by ICE in March after organizing pro-Palestine protests on Columbia’s campus while on an international student visa. Khalil was released this week after spending three months in an immigration detention center in Louisiana.
Democrats countered these arguments, directing blame at the Trump administration’s decision to appoint what they called “Nazi supporters and sympathizers” to high-level government positions.
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., specifically criticized former DOGE chief Elon Musk’s use of a hand gesture that some compared to a Nazi salute while speaking on stage at an inauguration event in January.
Musk and Republicans have heavily criticized Democrats for invoking the “Nazi” term and calling Musk’s hand gesture a “Nazi salute,” pointing to numerous Democrats who made similar gestures in the past. Trump is an ardent supporter of Israel, ordering the U.S. military to strike three Iranian nuclear sites last weekend after Israel launched a days-long campaign of missile strikes against the Islamic regime.
