Newsletter Nr. 53

European Commission Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas, Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eli Cohen, and Federal Minister for the EU and Constitution at the Federal Chancellery of Austria, Karoline Edtstadler, delivered keynote speeches during the plenary session, highlighting the need for closer cooperation, including in particular in the digital field.

Katharina von Schnurbein, Coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life, informed about flagship initiatives by the European Commission such as the 'Young European Ambassadors on Holocaust Remembrance', the 'Network of places where the Holocaust happened' and the 'Network of fact checkers and trusted flaggers' to address antisemitism online.

The EU-Israel Seminar is a unique forum that since 2007 brings together European and Israeli authorities, civil servants, policymakers, experts, international organisations and non-governmental organisations to discuss best practices and measures to combat antisemitism and other forms of hatred. The discussion of the 14th EU-Israel Seminar focused on countering Holocaust denial and distortion and addressing antisemitism in the digital sphere.

• Agenda
• Press release

© Photo: Rafi Ben Hakoon

Vice President Margaritis Schinas delivered a keynote speech in the Opening Plenary, highlighting the determined efforts of the European Union in combating antisemitism across its member states and worldwide and re-emphasised the importance of fostering and strengthening EU-Israel relations in the future. He stated: 

"Our commitment and our blueprint was to address one of the most pressing challenges  of our time, strenghten security of Jewish communities in Europe,  tackling online antisemitism, promoting Holocaust remembrance and teaching future generations about Jewish life and history. The strategy simply aims to bring an end to antisemitism in Europe. But to do that, we must not leave any blind sports. This is why our work is firmly rooted in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism as a tool to detect the various contemporary forms of antisemitic bias."

VP Schinas further continued by saying:

"For us Europeans standing up against antisemitism and ensuring that Jewish life can continue to flourish in Europe is much more than a policy objective, is an historic durty. Preserving the memory of the Shoah is the cornerstone of the unprecedented peace project that the EU is all about."

Coordinator Katharina von Schnurbein took part in a conversation with International Envoys on the fight against antisemitism. Alongside special envoys from the US, UK, Germany, the Netherlands, the Organisations of American states and the OSCE, Ms. von Schnurbein received the inaugural David Harris award as they "have tirelessly devoted themselves to exposing and confronting the scourge of antisemitism around the world." In her acceptance speech on behalf of all recipients, she thanked AJC for amplifying the voices of the envoys.

Vice-President Margaritis Schinas visited Yad Vashem’s Valley of Communities. He discussed with Yad Vashem Chairman Ambassador Dani Dayan the future digital experience about Jewish life in Europe before the Shoah project, which will be co-funded by the EU. More information about the project can be found here.

He held bilateral meetings on EU-Israel cooperation in various fields with the President of the State of Israel, Isaac Herzog, Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eli Cohen and AJC CEO, Ted Deutsch. He also visited the Greek Jewish community. 

Alongside EU and international Special Envoys and Coordinators, Ms. von Schnurbein, met with President Isaac Herzog and his senior staff to discuss common efforts in the global fight against antisemitism with the IHRA definition of antisemitism as the benchmark.

She addressed the Israeli Council of Foreign Relations in a panel discussion focused on 'Reflections on the struggle against antisemitism: progress and challenges'.

Coordinator von Schnurbein visited the Memorial Center for research and documentation – Ganzach Kiddush Hashem together with former Minister of Justice Yossi Beilin and met with members of the Haredi community.

According to a recent survey 325,739 antisemitic tweets appeared on Twitter during the last nine months alone. This represents a 106% increase in one year. The envoys requested Twitter to reinstate content moderation, make algorithms transparent and remove toxic content with urgency.