Faith, freedom and the fight against rising antisemitism

We are living through one of the most dangerous moral moments in modern history. The world has seen the re-emergence of an ancient hatred that many thought had been buried forever. In America and across the West, antisemitism is not just rising — it is metastasizing. And if history has taught us anything, it’s that when antisemitism spreads unchecked, it doesn’t stop with the Jewish people. It threatens the very foundations of civilization itself.

We recently traveled together to Israel — one of us the son of Holocaust survivors who rebuilt his life by restoring Torah scholarship to the heights it reached before the war; the other, the president’s nominee to serve as America’s next ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom. What we witnessed there, and what it revealed about this moment in time, should alarm the conscience of every person who values freedom and faith.

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Across the Western world, Jews are once again afraid. In Paris, London, New York and Los Angeles, the scenes are hauntingly familiar. Jewish students conceal their identity on college campuses. Synagogues are guarded like military bases. Businesses are boycotted for having Jewish owners. Families whisper before sending their children to school. 

Eight decades after the Holocaust, “Never Again” has become a plea rather than a promise. How can it be that within the lifetime of survivors, the same toxic hatred is once again socially acceptable — shouted in the streets, trending online and rationalized by those who should know better?

We must confront a hard truth: when hatred of Jews is tolerated, it is not merely a Jewish problem. It is a civilizational crisis. The moral architecture of the West — its belief in the sanctity of life, freedom of conscience and the inherent worth of every person — rests on the Judeo-Christian ethic. When that ethic is abandoned, when we permit the dehumanization of one person, it quickly spreads to others. Antisemitism is the world’s oldest hatred precisely because it is the most adaptable. It hides under new slogans, cloaks itself in political rhetoric and finds new justifications — but its essence is always the same: the denial of human dignity.

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In Israel, we stood in places that remind the world of both its lowest and highest capacities. At Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial, we saw what happens when humanity’s moral compass is lost. For Rabbi Hofstedter, whose parents survived that horror, it was a deeply personal moment — a reminder that evil can flourish when good people stay silent. Hours later, we stood together at the Western Wall, our hands on its cold stones, praying for wisdom, courage and strength. That wall — scarred yet standing — embodies the story of the Jewish people and the moral truth of history: that faith can survive even the greatest destruction.

That lesson came alive again that evening at a gathering of thousands of Torah scholars who devote their lives to mastering sacred texts. Watching them, we were reminded that light endures — but only when it is protected. The world cannot take for granted that moral light will burn forever. It must be tended, defended and rekindled by each generation. The same is true of freedom.

This is why leadership matters. America’s voice — clear, principled and unapologetic — is needed now more than ever. We are proud to see a president and an administration that have made confronting antisemitism and defending religious liberty a central priority. The fight against hatred cannot be a talking point; it must be a policy imperative. Silence and neutrality are not options. History does not look kindly on those who stood by and watched.

We are at an inflection point. The world is again being tested — not in theory, but in practice. Will we confront the hatred festering in our midst, or will we avert our eyes until it’s too late? Rabbi Hofstedter’s parents lived to see what happens when the world fails that test. Their generation paid the price in blood. Ours has the privilege — and the duty — to prevent it from happening again.

Allowing antisemitism to grow unchecked is not just a threat to Jews; it is a threat to the moral survival of the free world. The hatred that begins with the Jews never ends there. It undermines the values that sustain Western democracy — truth, justice, freedom and faith itself.

We know where this road leads. We’ve seen it before. The only question is whether we have the courage to stop it before history repeats itself. Faith demands it. Freedom depends on it. And civilization itself may hinge on it.

Mark Walker is President Donald Trump’s nominee for ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom and a former Republican congressman from North Carolina.