Lauder to establish antisemitism watchdog

Jewish philanthropist and World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder has announced that he is going to establish a new organization to fight antisemitism in the political and academic field – and he has set aside $25 million of his own money for this purpose.

He unveiled the plan Monday in an interview with The New York Times.

Called the Antisemitism Accountability Project, or A.S.A.P., the project was described by the WJC president as both an NGO and a super PAC, with the mission of targeting politicians who engage in antisemitic discourse.

“Although I am a lifelong Republican, antisemitism knows no political party. I’m going after the Right as well as the Left,” he told the Times, mentioning as an example Steve King, a Republican congressman from Iowa who in the past has often expressed positions close to white supremacist ones.

Asked about US President Donald Trump, who has also made remarks considered by many to be antisemitic – including accusing American Jews who vote Democrat of being “disloyal” – the philanthropist responded that he doesn’t believe that Trump had a single “antisemitic bone” in his body.

He further said that, in his opinion, the president made this clear when he said in his 2019 State of the Union address that: “We must never ignore the vile poison of antisemitism, or those who spread its venomous creed.”

According to the Times, A.S.A.P. will target politicians who hold antisemitic views with a campaign to prevent their election, which could include TV and radio ads, as well as events.

In addition, Lauder said he plans to target universities and professors taking “an antisemitic point of view” by going after their donors and persuading them to stop funding the institution.