Nearly six months into President Donald Trump’s second term, the United States remains without a confirmed special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism — an ambassador-level role that has grown increasingly critical amid a wave of violent attacks, Holocaust distortion, and antisemitic rhetoric worldwide. Trump nominated Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun for the post in April and formally submitted his name to the Senate in May. But the Senate has yet to schedule a confirmation hearing. The delay persists despite growing warnings from Jewish leaders and foreign policy experts that the global rise in antisemitism is reaching alarming levels. The State Department insists the office remains “fully operational.” But with the envoy role vacant, no public timetable for a hearing, and no sign of urgency from Senate leadership, critics say America’s leadership in confronting antisemitism is dangerously stalled. The vacancy comes at a time of mounting concern. In May, two Israeli embassy staffers were murdered outside the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. The attack sent shockwaves through the diplomatic community and underscored what U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called “a horrifying reminder that Jewish people all over the world are being targeted.” Yet even as officials acknowledge the urgency, the role remains unfilled. Kaploun has refrained from media interviews while awaiting confirmation, but in a recent op-ed co-authored with two former special envoys, he stressed that government officials must “speak out expeditiously and unequivocally” against antisemitism. Kaploun has quietly met with civil rights leaders, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and members of a new interagency antisemitism task force — but none of those meetings substitute for the authority and visibility that come with official confirmation. And there’s no shortage of work. In Europe, Iranian-backed plots to attack Jewish communities have been disrupted. In Turkey, antisemitic rhetoric is bleeding into the political mainstream. In Australia, attacks on synagogues are no longer rare. And in Poland, the ruling party has embraced Holocaust revisionism. A recent global survey from the Anti-Defamation League found that nearly half of adults around the world hold what it defines as “elevated levels of antisemitic attitudes” — nearly double what it recorded a decade ago. Despite all this, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, led by Sen. Jim Risch, has offered no explanation for the delay. Risch, ironically, has sponsored legislation targeting antisemitism at the UN, calling for the U.S. to defund international bodies that perpetuate “blatant antisemitism.” But when asked about Kaploun’s confirmation timeline, his office did not respond. The White House, for its part, referred all questions to the Senate. This isn’t the first time the position has been left unfilled. During Trump’s first term, the post remained vacant for two years — until 2019, when Elan Carr was appointed in a non-ambassadorial capacity that did not require Senate confirmation. His tenure ended with the Trump administration’s term in 2021. President Joe Biden then waited six months before nominating Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt — whose confirmation process was infamously delayed another eight months due to partisan wrangling. But while past delays sparked widespread outcry from Jewish groups and lawmakers, the current vacancy has generated less noise. The ADL, AJC, and World Jewish Congress have each issued statements urging swift action — but none have mounted the kind of public campaigns seen in previous years. Meanwhile, Kaploun — whose […]