US must 'stand with Israel,' combat domestic anti-Semitic hate, warn top political leaders at CUFI Summit

EXCLUSIVE: Virginia's Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, the largest pro-Israel organization in the United States and top senators say that the rise in anti-Semitic hate nationwide is concerning and demands immediate action.

Sears sat down with Fox News Digital following introductory remarks at the Christians United for Israel (CUFI)'s 2022 Washington Summit Monday in Arlington, Virginia.

Sears welcomed CUFI attendees saying: "We are glad that you're here…that you want to protect Israel because Israel has been so much a part of our history. And especially as Christians, without Israel, there is no Christianity. And we're going to be strong and courageous, as Joshua was told to do. So we're going to make bold decisions, and we are going to stand with Israel no matter what."

CUFI Action Fund Chairwoman Sandra Parker told Fox News Digital that the key to the organization's success is the support of over 10 million members who "feel that support for Israel is a biblical mandate. And coming to Washington is a practical application of how they exercise their faith in supporting Israel."

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"I think the key to the success is meeting people where they are, and that means that we have outreaches all over the place. We have high school, we have college, we have Israel Collective, which reaches out to millennial influencers. We have Native American outreach, we have Asian-American outreach, we have Latino outreach, we have African-American outreach. We understand that everybody comes from different walks of life, and it's our job not for them to find us, but for us to go and find them."

"Because any Christian that reads the Bible, that believes the Bible knows about the biblical mandate to bless Israel, to pray for Israel, to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. And so we want to make sure that we do our job in letting them know these are ways that you can do that. And yeah, maybe not everybody can do everything, but everybody can do something," Parker continued.

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Sears, and other political leaders, are especially concerned with the rise of anti-Semitism across the United States.

"Everybody has to be concerned with the rise of anti-Semitism. What we know…is that no one is safe, if a certain group of people aren't safe. Don't kid yourself. You're not safe either, because it's only a matter of time before the mob comes for you. And in fact, even those who are very liberal are discovering that the minute they see something that the mob, the liberal mob doesn't like, they silence them, they cancel them, they dox them. We're not having that here in Virginia," said Sears.

Governor Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order establishing an anti-Semitism commission earlier this year, which the lieutenant governor noted.

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"On day one in his executive order, determined to form a commission, an anti-Semitism commission, to determine what was happening in Virginia to find out why the Jews are being so hated, and what is this new rise in that hatred," explained Sears.

Sears said preliminary recommendations of the commission are expected in December 2022.

CUFI held a panel titled "Antisemitism Begins With Words" during the full agenda day of its summit, featuring Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Director of the Christian Friends of Yad Vashem Sari Granitza and actor Nathaniel Buzolic.

CUFI Action Fund's chairwoman similarly said that one of the organization's top priorities for the rest of the year is working against the United Nation's "rank anti-Semitism."

Parker explained that the "COI Elimination Act, the commission of inquiry that was opened by the U.N. Human Rights Council against Israel to investigate alleged human rights abuse violations while they were defending themselves from this unprovoked attack in May of 2021, you know, is laughable. It's a tragic tragedy."

She continued, "It looks like political theater. It's more rank anti-Semitism from the United Nations and specifically the Human Rights Council. And so simply what that says is that any American taxpayer dollars that are going to the U.N. Human Rights Council need to absolutely be withheld until the Commission of Inquiry against Israel is abolished."

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Speaking to Fox News Digital behind the scenes at the summit, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., also expressed concern about the proliferation of anti-Semitism on college campuses.

"Anti-Semitism is on the rise worldwide. Unfortunately, it's on the rise here in the United States, including on college campuses. And so as they continue to be able to literally promote anti-Semitism on college campuses, it's a good time for us to be able to push back and to be able to say, we're the United States of America. We receive all people, of all places, of all faiths or of no faith. And for individuals that are anti-Semitic, that want to be able to push back on Jewish individuals, on college campuses or on the belief in a sovereign Israel to be able to exist, we want to continue to be able to push back against that message," Lankford said.

"We can all always call out anti-Semitism when we see it and never tolerate it, but we can also take concrete legislative steps," said Cotton, R-Ark., on the topic, while also noting that he worked to require state contractors to certify that they would not boycott Israel while in the state legislature.

He continued, "I plan to introduce legislation this year that would prevent anyone who engages in those kind of boycotts from getting military contracts, so we can take concrete legislative steps. In addition to letting everyone know that we always condemn, we never turn a blind eye to the ancient hatred of anti-Semitism.