This was the first meeting of the Working Group after the barbaric terrorist attack by Hamas on 7 October on civilians in Israel. 

The first day of the working group focused primarily on the impact of the attack on Jewish communities in the EU and action taken on European and national level to address the spike of antisemitism since the Holocaust.

Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life, opened the working group reiterating the Commission’s unwavering commitment to ensure Jewish life can continue to prosper in the EU, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Jewish communities.

On the second day, the focus was on the development and implementation of the national strategies in line with the Council Conclusions on combating racism and antisemitism of 4 March 2022, in which Member States committed to “developing national strategies against antisemitism, and endeavour to do so by the end of 2022”. Member States national authorities and Jewish communities provided updates on the developments in their countries.

In line with the EU Strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life, the European Commission will present a progress report on the fight against antisemitism in the first half of 2024, which will draw on best-practices from national strategies.

To mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, this session was followed by the presentation of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Charter for Safeguarding Sites, and a discussion on how to best preserve Holocaust places and sites for future generations.

The fifth meeting of the working group addressed the following topics:
1. Impact of the Hamas terrorist attack on Jewish communities
2. Countering online antisemitism – the impact of the Hamas terrorist attack
3. Updates on the development and implementation of national strategies
4. The IHRA Charter for Safeguarding Sites