WASHINGTON – A swastika was found on Monday inside an elevator at the State Department building, near the office of the special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, Axios first reported on Tuesday. The website also obtained a photo of the swastika, etched into the wall of elevator 36. It has since been removed.
State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter told reporters that the swastika was discovered late on Monday.
“This hateful graffiti has been removed and this incident will be investigated. As the secretary has shared with a message to all of our employees, this is completely abhorrent. It’s a painful reminder that antisemitism isn’t a relic of the past, it’s still a force that we’re dealing with in the world and unfortunately, we’re dealing with it close to home,” Porter said.
“Antisemitism has no place in the United States and certainly has no place in the State Department,” she said.
The department is working on the nomination of a special envoy to combat antisemitism, Porter said, adding that it hopes to have the person in place soon.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the incident in an internal email to State Department workers. “Late yesterday, I learned that a swastika was found carved in an elevator at the Harry S. Truman building. The hateful graffiti has been removed and this incident will be investigated,” he wrote.
“This painfully reminds us [that] antisemitism isn’t a relic of the past. It’s still a force in the world, including close to home – and it’s abhorrent. It has no place in the United States, at the State Department, or anywhere else. And we must be relentless in standing up and rejecting it,” he said.
“To our Jewish colleagues: please know how grateful we are for your service and how proud we are to be your colleagues.”
צלב הקרס שצוייר במחלקת המדינה האמריקאית מראה שוב כיצד האנטישמיות אינה מבחינה בין יהודי ליהודי, ופוגעת לא רק בישראל אלא בעולם כולו.עלינו להיאבק יחד בנחישות כנגד אנטישמיות מכל סוג ולמצות את הדין עם כל אדם אשר יפעל מתוך שנאה לעם היהודי.https://t.co/3lVcj5vTsN— Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) July 27, 2021
Israel’s Ambassador to the US and UN Gilad Erdan said in a statement on Tuesday that “the swastika etched in the State Department is a serious incident of antisemitic vandalism, which once again shows that antisemitism does not distinguish between Jews in Israel and Jews in America, and harms not only Israel but the entire world.”
“We must fight together resolutely against antisemitism of any kind and bring to justice anyone who acts out of hatred for the Jewish people,” Erdan added.
US President Joe Biden spoke out against antisemitism after officials said that a swastika had been found carved into the wall of a US State Department elevator.
"Let me be clear: Antisemitism has no place in the State Department, in my administration, or anywhere in the world. It's up to all of us to give hate no safe harbor and stand up to bigotry wherever we find it," Biden tweeted late on Tuesday.
MEANWHILE, a group of four members of Congress: Rep. Cawthorn. Rep. Biggs, Rep. Buck, and Rep. Johnson, introduced a resolution “Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives against the malignant and metastasizing ideology of antisemitism.”
According to the resolution, the House of Representatives “reaffirms the First Amendment right to practice religion in public; its commitment to reject those who attack others based on ethnicity and race, and the right of Israel to exist and defend her citizens.”
It also “reaffirms its commitment to the necessity of law enforcement protecting Jewish citizens from attacks here in the United States; the designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization and rocket attacks against civilians as a terrorist tactic; and upholds all Federal and local programs dedicated to eliminating antisemitism.”
Reuters contributed to this report.