The Diaspora Ministry announced a new antisemitism monitoring system and operations room on Sunday, and a spokesperson revealed to The Jerusalem Post on Monday more details about the project which the ministry hopes will allow for greater understanding of antisemitism and options for responses.
The project consists of an operations room manned by professional analysts, a system that monitors social media platforms such as X, Telegram, Facebook, Youtube, and TikTok, and a database.
By monitoring social media platforms and accepting reports from individuals and organizations around the world, the operation will create an antisemitism database that would be accessible for other government bodies, including the Diaspora Ministry’s research division.
The ministry seeks to not just measure and compare the levels of antisemitism in different countries, but to use the database to identify chief instigators, hot spots, and ideological, rhetorical, and event response trends. The information would help Israeli ministries, civil organizations, and governments to better understand the situation in different states, allowing them to formulate better responses, said the spokesperson.
The database infrastructure is still being developed, and the monitoring system is out of its pilot stage, though the settings are still being fine tuned. The spokesperson was not at liberty to discuss the technical aspects of the monitoring program for security reasons.
The ministry will not focus on a particular social media platform, but the spokesperson acknowledged “there is a difference between the platforms. We’ve been in discussions with Facebook and TikTok for a while.”
From the operations room, the ministry employees will manage relevant events and responses. The spokesperson said responses may include encouraging the public to report content, or, in cooperation with the Justice Ministry, the Diaspora Ministry may file a complaint to relevant bodies.
In case it gets bad
Depending on the severity of the situation, Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli may reach out to colleagues in other governments in official correspondence. Chikli issued a letter in July calling on California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to protect the state’s Jewish population in the wake of violent riots at a Pico-Robertson synagogue in June, and contacted Princeton University over a book in the syllabus accusing Israel of having a policy to maim Palestinians.
Chikli said in a Sunday statement that since October 7, there had been a sharp rise in online antisemitic discourse, and the new project would help unify efforts in combating anti-Jewish hatred.