Faith leaders, members of Congress and top Trump administration officials came together Monday in the nation's capital to combat antisemitism, with universal praise for President Donald Trump for his administration's efforts to strengthen ties with America's strongest ally in the Middle East. 

The event, held at the Museum of the Bible, included Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.; GOP Reps. Elise Stefanik, of New York, and Kat Cammack, of Florida; former Deputy National Security Advisor Victoria Coates; Director of Counterterrorism on the National Security Council, Israel's Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Leiter; and Leo Terrell, senior counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department.

Woven throughout the panel discussions and speeches were recounts of Trump's accomplishments regarding Israel. The president received praise for having recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the U.S. Embassy there in 2018, during his first term.

Additionally, the president acknowledged Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in 2019. Most significantly, he brokered the Abraham Accords in 2020, normalizing relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco – historic deals that expanded peace throughout the region. 

In his second term, Trump brokered the October 2025 Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage-release deal under his 20-point Gaza peace plan, ending over two years of war, while delivering billions in arms (including heavy bombs and $12B+ in sales), sanctioning the ICC (International Criminal Court) over Netanyahu warrants, and backing joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

One of the main concerns of discussion was the rise of antisemitism on college campuses. Stefanik spoke to the crowd about antisemitism at “poison Ivies” – elite universities, often Ivy League schools, that faced criticism for their handling of antisemitism on campus following the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel. 

Reports documented incidents including harassment of Jewish students, protests featuring antisemitic rhetoric and encampments that disrupted university operations. 

One of the most jarring moments during 2023 congressional hearings on the matter came when Stefanik asked whether calls for the genocide of Jews violated university policies. Some university leaders responded elusively by blaming context and citing free speech considerations. 

The exchanges drew widespread attention and criticism, contributing to resignations including those of Harvard’s Claudine Gay and Penn’s Liz Magill amid broader debates over campus leadership and governance.

Leiter emphasized the media's responsibility and criticized publications like The New York Times for inaccurate coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

In July 2025, The Times featured a front-page photo of an emaciated 18-month-old Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq in Gaza, captioning him as a child “born healthy” who was now starving due to the war with Israel.  

Critics noted the image cropped out his healthy-weight brother, and doctors later confirmed pre-existing muscular/neurological conditions unrelated to famine. 

The newspaper admitted to the misleading coverage and added an editors’ note days later acknowledging the omission – reaching far fewer readers than the viral original.

Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism, highlighted his role in the administration and touted the president's success in taking out major terrorists across the globe, in addition to his recent rollout of the administration's 16-page National Counterterrorism Strategy. 

In recent weeks, Gorka has confirmed significant counterterrorism successes, including the FBI's arrest of an Iran-backed Iraqi terror leader, the extradition of a top Tren de Aragua gang figure, and a joint U.S.-Nigerian operation that killed a senior ISIS global operations commander. 

Faith leaders who addressed the crowd were evangelist and author Dr. Alveda King and pastor and author Lucas Miles. 

Also speaking at the event was Jeff Ballabon, CBS media executive and senior counsel for International and Government Affairs at the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ).