U.S President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday condemned attacks on the Jewish community amid a rise in antisemitic incidents this month.
“The recent attacks on the Jewish community are despicable, and they must stop. I condemn this hateful behavior at home and abroad – it’s up to all of us to give hate no safe harbor,” Biden tweeted.
Harris followed with a tweet of her own, which similarly called the surge in antisemitic attacks “despicable.”
“As a country, we must stand united against hate of any kind,” Harris tweeted.
Biden and Harris denounced antisemitism as Jewish leaders around the country saw an increase in vandalism and attacks on Jewish people.
A synagogue just outside Chicago was vandalized over the weekend, a Jewish Man was assaulted in Times Square in an incident captured on video and New York City police are investigating after someone threw fireworks during dueling pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian protests last week.
Former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) tweeted last week that her synagogue in Tucson was vandalized. Several Jewish diners were assaulted outside a Los Angeles restaurant last week, as well.
The attacks on the Jewish community come as Israel and Hamas brokered a cease-fire on Friday to de-escalate a two-week conflict in the country.
The incidents are part of a more sustained trend of an increase in antisemitism. The Anti-Defamation League reported more than 2,000 instances of assault, harassment and vandalism against the Jewish community in 2020, the highest number in its history.
