J7 statement calling on UN diplomats to take action on antisemitism.

Members of the J7 Large Jewish Com­munit­ies Task Force Against Antisemitism, rep­res­ent­ing the Jewish diaspora com­munit­ies in Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, today urged diplomats from the United Nations to take action in the face of rising antisemitism that has plagued each of their countries in the past few months.

The J7 rep­res­ent­at­ives met today in New York with UN Permanent Rep­res­ent­at­ives and senior mission lead­er­ship from these seven countries. They urged the UN leaders to identify actions gov­ern­ments and inter­na­tion­al organ­isa­tions can take to address antisemitism and to work for real account­ab­il­ity by UN officials to address antisemitism at the UN and beyond.

The J7 leaders also urged the UN Permanent Rep­res­ent­at­ives to ensure that the next Secretary General consider the crisis of antisemitism and take real steps to address it within the UN.  

After a closed-door meeting with UN diplomats at the headquar­ters of ADL (the Anti-Defam­a­tion League) in New York City, the J7 leaders issued the following joint statement:

“We welcome the oppor­tun­ity to meet with UN permanent rep­res­ent­at­ives to have an open dis­cus­sion about the rising crisis of global antisemitism. Our message was clear: Our gov­ern­ments and the UN must do more – urgently and meas­ur­ably – to combat antisemitism and the anti-Israel bias that too often fuels and legit­im­ises it.   

“We called on the Permanent Rep­res­ent­at­ives to work for real account­ab­il­ity by UN officials and UN mandate holders for antisemitic conduct, rhetoric and bias. We called for action to ensure UN resources do not support, endorse, or legit­im­ise extremism, terrorism, or antisemitism, including through UN-produced education resources and UN support for programs and campaigns that promote anti-Israel boycotts.  

“Our com­munit­ies are in the midst of a global antisemitism crisis, with attacks on syn­agogues in North America and Europe just over the past week. While each community faces distinct cir­cum­stances, what begins in one country invari­ably appears where other Jews live.

“Antisemitism is glob­al­ised through copycats, coordin­ated campaigns, and state actors such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, which delib­er­ately inter­na­tion­al­ises hate, extremism and terrorism, aimed spe­cific­ally at Jewish com­munit­ies.  Indeed, the Iranian regime has already targeted our com­munit­ies, from the Buenos Aires AMIA bombing in 1994 to as recently as the December 2024 attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, Australia.

“We will continue to coordin­ate across our com­munit­ies and engage our gov­ern­ments and UN leaders to ensure action that Jewish com­munit­ies can see, measure and trust.”

Both the UN permanent rep­res­ent­at­ives and J7 community rep­res­ent­at­ives committed to convene this group on a standing basis when the J7 meets in New York.

The meeting comes in the wake of a series of horrific and violent antisemitic attacks around the world, including the massacre of 15 people at Bondi Beach in Australia during a Hanukkah cel­eb­ra­tion, a series of targeted shooting attacks on syn­agogues in Canada, the stabbing of two people outside of a synagogue in suburban Manchester on Yom Kippur, and explosive devices set off at two Jewish insti­tu­tions in the Neth­er­lands. 

The J7 convened on the sidelines of the ADL Never is Now Summit, held on March 16 – 17 in New York. The J7 was founded in 2023, just months before the October 7 attack, bringing together Jewish community lead­er­ship from the seven largest Jewish Diaspora com­munit­ies to col­lab­or­ate in assessing and respond­ing to global antisemitism. 

UN ambas­sad­ors attending the meeting include Ambas­sad­or Francisco Tropepi of Argentina, Ambas­sad­or James Larsen of Australia, Ambas­sad­or Michael Gort of Canada, Ambas­sad­or Jérôme Bonnafont of France, Ambas­sad­or Ricklef Beutin of Germany, Ambas­sad­or James Kariuki of the UK, and Ambas­sad­or Jeff Bartos of the United States.

J7 Members

Argentina: Del­ega­ción de Asociaciones Israel­it­as Argen­ti­nas (DAIA)
Australia: Executive Council of Aus­trali­an Jewry (ECAJ)
Canada: Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA)
France: Conseil Représent­atif des Insti­tu­tions Juives de France (CRIF)
Germany: Central Council of Jews in Germany
The United Kingdom: Board of Deputies of British Jews
The United States: ADL (Anti-Defam­a­tion League) and the Con­fer­ence of Pres­id­ents of Major American Jewish Organ­iz­a­tions