The dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center said the US is in an “emergency situation” and must combat the “cancer” of anti-Semitic attacks.
By United with Israel Staff
Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, called on President Donald Trump to create a 24/7 special task force within the FBI to stop “unending attacks against Jews and their religious institutions” in the US. The request came at a press conference at the center in California on Monday.
The invitation to the event read, “This ongoing epidemic of anti-Semitic attacks needs to be treated. Enough is Enough. Jews should not have to fear for their lives in America to go their houses of worship.”
Hier called the press conference following the attack in Monsey, New York during a Chanukah celebration Saturday night when a machete-wielding man entered a private home, stabbing five people.
He said, “It’s a very sad day in the United States of America,” referring to the current situation as “a terrible moment in American history.”
Hier told the reporters, “The Simon Wiesenthal Center calls on President Trump to create a task force in the FBI to exclusively combat the cancer of anti-Semitism.”
The rabbi said combating anti-Semitism “belongs outside the responsibility of states and local governments. The federal government must create a proper budget to combat the perpetrators of anti-Semitic attacks.”
Hier referred to a chart that listed 10 attacks against Jews in the month of December alone. “Our priority now is to undertake hate and anti-Semitic control,” he said.
“By doing so now we will give a great gift to our grandchildren and future generations,” he added.
In an interview with i24 news Monday, the rabbi said that those who blame President Donald Trump for the rise in anti-Semitism in the US are being “ridiculous.”
“Anti-Semitism has proliferated all over Europe for 15 years,” he said. “Look what happened in England. You can’t wear a yarmulke in France [or] in Germany. So, to blame the recurrence of anti-Semitism on President Trump is purely outrageous and offensive. It’s as if there isn’t anti-Semitism in the world. It just started now with President Trump. It’s all over the world. It has now crossed the Atlantic into the greatest democracy in the world.”
On Sunday, Trump denounced the violence in New York. “The anti-Semitic attack in Monsey, New York, on the 7th night of Hanukkah is horrific,” he tweeted. “We must all come together to fight, confront, and eradicate the evil scourge of anti-Semitism.”
“Since 1977 when the Simon Wiesenthal Center opened, we’ve never seen, one after another, such horrific attacks targeting Jews — at night and in broad daylight,” Hier said, according to the LA Times. “I do not recall any time I’ve been as concerned as I am now. We’re in uncharted territory. Unless we do something, the results will be horrific and unprecedented in American history.”
Hier emphasized to reporters that America is not yet like Nazi Germany. However, he added, “Let’s remember that Nazi Germany started innocently.”
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