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With new survey findings showing most Jewish Americans experienced antisemitism in the past year, former Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Virginia Jason Miyares issued a powerful call to action on Tuesday, urging elected officials nationwide to confront the escalating crisis.
Speaking at a special online briefing organized by the Combat Antisemitism Movement, Miyares — a member of CAM’s U.S. Advisory Board — detailed the model he advanced in Virginia, including the establishment of dedicated antisemitism task forces, and encouraged peers to implement it in their states.
In partnership with then-Governor Glenn Youngkin, Miyares created the first antisemitism working group inside a state attorney general’s office. The Virginia model promotes the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism, and also features law enforcement training programs, coordination mechanisms with education authorities, curriculum initiatives for students, and legal steps to counter the influence of foreign funding.
“You can’t be neutral or silent,” said Miyares. “This one of the defining moments of our time. Every civilization that has ever embraced antisemitism falters and fails – it is a sign of a rot. And if you don’t stamp it out, it would affect your entire society.”
Tuesday’s briefing, led by CAM CEO Sacha Roytman, followed CAM’s recent release of a study revealing that 57% of Jewish Americans, including 205,000 children, experienced antisemitism directly in the last year.
The survey polled a representative sample of 1,060 Jewish Americans spanning religious, cultural, and political backgrounds. Other findings included that 58% of respondents felt less safe than they did a year ago, and 38%, or roughly 2.3 million Jewish Americans, now hid their Jewish identity publicly due to antisemitism fears.
“Nobody is asking for religious protection, we’re asking to be protected when we’re targeted on the basis of our shared history and heritage rooted in the Land of Israel,” CAM President of U.S. Affairs Alyza D. Lewin said at Tuesday’s briefing. “When Jews are targeted by people who are hostile to the very notion that we are a people indigenous to Judea, that has to be understood as antisemitism.”
Lewin also warned about the growing use of AI-generated content to spread antisemitic tropes online, including fabricated “rabbi” accounts pushing antisemitic messaging, and called on social media platforms to require disclosure of AI-generated actors.
Roytman stated, “This survey confirms what our community has felt for years — antisemitism in America is a national emergency, measured in the millions. When a former state attorney general lays out a concrete blueprint and tells his colleagues across the country we are in a time demanding they act — that is precisely the kind of leadership this moment requires.”
Watch a full recording of Tuesday’s briefing HERE:
Read more:
Jason Miyares Op-Ed – Fighting On The Frontlines Of Antisemitism
New CAM Survey: Most US Jews Faced Antisemitism This Year as Nation Marks 250th Anniversary
Virginia Leaders Unite to Celebrate Jewish Heritage Month and Confront Rising Antisemitism
