SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 | 29

NATIONAL

P

resident Joe Biden 
will nominate 
Deborah Lipstadt, 
the Emory University 
Holocaust historian, to 
be the State Department’s 
antisemitism envoy.
The White House alerted 
top Biden supporters of the 
pick, which has been expect-
ed for weeks, in late July.
Lipstadt is perhaps 
best known for defeating 
Holocaust denier David 
Irving after he sued her 
in a British court for def-
amation for calling him a 
Holocaust denier. Her 2005 
book, History on Trial: My 
Day in Court with a Holocaust 
Denier, was made into a 
2016 movie with Rachel 
Weisz starring as Lipstadt.
Lipstadt, 74, has been for 
years a go-to expert for the 
media and for legislators on 
Holocaust issues, particu-
larly on how the genocide’s 
meaning should be under-
stood in the 21st century, 
and whether it had any 
cognates among anti-dem-
ocratic forces in the current 
day. She twice endorsed 
Barack Obama for president 
but has been on call for her 
expertise across the political 
spectrum.
Last year, during the 
election, she broke a long-
standing taboo on compar-
ing present-day American 
politicians to the Nazis 
and endorsed an ad by the 
Jewish Democratic Council 
of America likening the 
Trump administration to 
1930s Germany. Lipstadt 

said Holocaust analogies 
were still off-limits, but she 
could see parallels to the 
rise of the Nazis.
“I would say in the attacks 
we’re seeing on the press, 
the courts, academic insti-
tutions, elected officials and 
even, and most chillingly, 
the electoral process, that 
this deserves comparison,” 
she said at the time. refer-
ring to the JDCA ad. “It’s 
again showing how the pub-
lic’s hatred can be whipped 
up against Jews. Had the ad 
contained imagery of the 
Shoah, I wouldn’t be here 
today.”
Jewish organizations, 
alarmed by a spike in 
antisemitism, have been 
pressing the Biden admin-
istration to name an envoy 
and to name a Jewish liaison 
to the community — anoth-
er post that White House 

officials said would be filled 
soon. The Trump admin-
istration took two years to 
name an envoy.
Lipstadt will be the first 
nominee who will need to 
be confirmed by the Senate 
since Congress first cre-
ated the position in 2004. 
Congress last year elevated 
the role to ambassador-lev-
el, granting the position 
more funding and easier 
access to the secretary of 
state and the president. If 
Lipstadt is confirmed, she 
will be the fifth person in 
the position.
The antisemitism mon-
itor’s role is tracking and 
reporting on the phenome-
non overseas, and lobbying 
governments to address 
anti-Jewish bigotry within 
their borders. The position 
does not have a domestic 
role. 

OSNAT PERELSHTEIN

Deborah Lipstadt, noted Holocaust historian, is Biden’s pick. 
New Antisemitism Envoy

RON KAMPEAS JTA.ORG

Deborah Lipstadt, the renowned Holocaust historian, is the author 
of the forthcoming book Antisemitism Here and Now. 

