Antisemitism made an appearance Monday at the US State Department, where staff people discovered a swastika carved into the wall of an elevator.
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)
The vandalism occurred near the office of the nation’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism in the country, according to the Hebrew-language Walla!News outlet.
“As this painfully reminds us, antisemitism isn’t a relic of the past. It is still a force in the world, including close to home, and it’s abhorrent,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is Jewish and a stepson of a Holocaust survivor.
“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,” Blinken said.
The Secretary later said while addressing Jewish staff at the Department, “Please know how much we thank you for your service, and how proud we are to be your colleagues,” Walla!News reported.
The incident, Israeli Ambassador to the US and UN Gilad Erdan noted in a statement on Twitter, “once again shows how antisemitism does not distinguish between a Jew and a Jew, and causes harm not only to Israel, but to the entire world.
“We must fight together resolutely against antisemitism of any kind and exhaust the law with every person who acts out of hatred for the Jewish People,” he wrote.
The State Department has opened an investigation into the incident.
