The U.S. Department of Justice announced that it will form a new advisory body to fight antisemitism nationwide, alongside a 15-city national tour aimed at coordinating federal, state, and local efforts to confront a “rising tide” of Jew-hatred across the United States.
The Antisemitism Advisory Committee, or ASAC, will provide recommendations to the attorney general and Justice Department leadership on responding to antisemitism and developing strategies to protect Jewish Americans from threats, harassment, and violence.
“President Trump has made combating antisemitism a top priority for this administration, and we thank Leo Terrell for his leadership at the Department of Justice in helping to carry out this mission,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement, praising Terrell, chair of the department’s task force on antisemitism, for his work on the issue. “Protecting civil rights of every American remains a core responsibility of the Department of Justice.”
Terrell will lead the new committee, which the department said will consist of “citizen leaders dedicated to combating antisemitism,” subject to President Trump’s approval. Members will come from a wide range of backgrounds but will share “a common goal of developing innovative solutions to address antisemitism across the country,” the department said. Terrell told Jewish Insider that he had submitted a list of nominees to President Trump after receiving the green light from Blanche and was awaiting White House approval.
The advisory committee differs structurally from the existing DOJ Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, which is solely composed of Justice Department officials. The new panel is designed to bring outside perspectives, from community leaders, advocates, and subject-matter experts, into the department’s strategy.
Alongside the committee, the department announced a 15-city “National Awareness & Action Tour to combat antisemitism.” Terrell will lead the tour, meeting with “individuals and local communities impacted by antisemitism” and “working to identify practical solutions to combat antisemitism at the local level.”
The tour’s stated goals include strengthening collaboration between local law enforcement, federal agencies, and Jewish communities, and building broad interfaith opposition to antisemitism among Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities.
The initiative builds on the Trump administration’s broader effort to confront antisemitism. The administration has rested its approach on Executive Orders 13899 (Combating Anti-Semitism) and 14188 (Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism), which direct federal agencies to use all available legal tools to protect Jewish Americans from discrimination, threats, and violence.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, who oversees the department’s cases involving religious-liberty protections, said the administration “is using every tool available to confront antisemitic threats, support local communities, and ensure that radical activists and violent extremists do not intimidate law-abiding Americans.”
“President Trump has made combating antisemitism a national priority because no American should live in fear because of their faith,” Woodward said. “The Department of Justice will act aggressively to protect civil rights and uphold public safety.”
The announcements come against the backdrop of an unprecedented surge in antisemitic incidents across the United States since the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre in Israel. According to the Anti-Defamation League, there has been an 893 percent increase in antisemitic acts nationwide over the past ten years, and the total number of reported antisemitic acts between 2014 and 2024 represents “the highest number on record since ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents 46 years ago.”
American Jews have faced a steady drumbeat of attacks on shuls, yeshivos, day schools, and visibly Orthodox individuals in the streets of major cities, alongside a wave of campus antisemitism that the administration has made a particular focus of enforcement. The Trump White House has acted aggressively against universities accused of failing to protect Jewish students, withholding federal funding from institutions deemed non-compliant with civil-rights obligations, and pursuing immigration enforcement actions against foreign nationals tied to pro-Hamas campus activity.
Under Terrell’s leadership, the new panel is expected to review policy options, recommend enforcement priorities, and help develop solutions aimed at improving safety for Jewish Americans. The advisory body will work alongside the Justice Department’s broader efforts to address antisemitism in schools, on college campuses, in public spaces, and within local communities. Officials said the goal is to strengthen communication between federal agencies, local leaders, law enforcement, and affected communities so threats can be addressed more quickly and effectively.
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