Israel’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the announcement, calling the IHRA definition “an essential tool for identifying and combating antisemitism in all its forms.”
By United with Israel Staff
The Dominican Republic will formally adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, President Luis Abinader announced at the Combat Antisemitism Movement’s sixth annual Latin American Forum Against Antisemitism in Santo Domingo.
The move will make the Dominican Republic the seventh Latin American country to officially embrace the IHRA framework, joining Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama and Uruguay.
“Antisemitism is not a problem that concerns only the Jewish people,” Abinader said. “It is a threat to democratic coexistence and to the rights and freedoms of us all.”
The president stressed that combating antisemitism should not be confused with taking sides in a particular political dispute or conflict.
“Rejecting antisemitism does not mean taking a position regarding a particular government or conflict,” he said. “It means stating unequivocally that no political disagreement, no cause, and no circumstance can justify hatred, discrimination, or violence against an individual or a community.”
Abinader then announced that his government had decided to formally adopt the IHRA definition and that he had instructed the Foreign Ministry to formalize and publicly announce the decision.
“This adoption will provide a framework for identifying and combating the different manifestations of antisemitism, while fully respecting freedom of expression and the other rights enshrined in our constitution,” he said.
The IHRA working definition, adopted by the organization in 2016, is a non-legally binding tool designed to help governments and institutions identify antisemitism. It is accompanied by 11 illustrative examples, including several addressing circumstances in which attacks on Israel or Zionism can cross into antisemitism.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the announcement, calling the IHRA definition “an essential tool for identifying and combating antisemitism in all its forms.”
“We commend President Luis Abinader for this important step and hope more countries in the region will follow,” the ministry said.
Abinader said the decision reaffirmed his country’s commitment to Holocaust remembrance, protecting Jewish communities and combating antisemitism in all its forms.
“Human dignity is indivisible, and its defense admits no exceptions,” he said.
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