The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday advanced the nomination of Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun to serve as the Trump administration�s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, moving the Chabad-affiliated businessman one step closer to confirmation after a contentious, highly polarized fight over his past political statements.

Rabbi Kaploun cleared the panel in a bipartisan vote, with Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) joining all Republicans to send the nomination to the full Senate. If confirmed, he would be only the second Orthodox Jew ever approved for a senior administration post, following Mitchell Silk�s 2020 confirmation as an assistant secretary at the Treasury Department.

Eight Democrats � including Sens. Chris Coons, Chris Murphy, Tim Kaine, Jeff Merkley, Cory Booker, Brian Schatz, Chris Van Hollen and Tammy Duckworth � opposed the nomination, citing partisan remarks Rabbi Kaploun made in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.

In a 2024 interview with Mishpacha magazine, Rabbi Kaploun blasted Democrats for their reluctance to confront Islamist extremism. �Democrats are afraid to even say the words �radical Islamic terror� while Trump says it openly,� he said. �Democrats refuse to even recognize the butchers of women and kidnappers of children as terrorists. How can you go along with that?�

Rabbi Kaploun’s nomination has drawn notable support from mainstream Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Orthodox Union�s Advocacy Center. Agudath Israel of America issued a statement Wednesday praising the committee vote and urging swift Senate confirmation, calling Kaploun �deeply involved in Jewish issues and charitable causes� and saying he would �carry out his new responsibilities with dedication and distinction.�

Rabbi Kaploun � born in Israel, raised in Connecticut, and now based in Miami � would succeed Deborah Lipstadt, the prominent Holocaust scholar who served in the role during the Biden administration. Unlike Lipstadt, Rabbi Kaploun comes from the business world and has kept a relatively low public profile outside Orthodox Jewish circles.

At his November confirmation hearing, Kaploun emphasized education as the centerpiece of his strategy to counter global antisemitism. �We must educate, educate, educate about the history of the Jewish community in America and the Judeo-Christian values our country was founded on,� he told senators. �Antisemitism is anti-American. Those who chant �death to the Jews� all too often chant �death to America.��

The antisemitism envoy role, housed within the State Department, carries a mandate to monitor and confront antisemitic trends abroad � responsibilities that have grown in visibility as attacks on Jewish communities have surged since Oct. 7.

The committee on Wednesday also advanced another high-profile Trump nominee: State Department spokeswoman and former Fox Nation host Tammy Bruce, who was approved on a party-line vote to serve as deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Both nominations now move to the Senate floor, where vote margins will be tight.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)