Washington D.C., June 9th, 2025 – Meeting with the 56th Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson on Thursday, ECI Founding Director Tomas Sandell reiterated his message from his seven day visit to the United States that Europe and United States need to work together to combat the current rise of antisemitic violence which in just two weeks’ time has resulted in two deadly attacks in Washington D.C. and Boulder, Colorado.

In the meeting Sandell also shared his concern about the current push for a Palestinian state and how an educational centre in Sanremo could help debunk the myth of Israel as a neo-colonial state by raising awareness of the 3000-year old historical connection between the Jewish people and the land of Israel. This was the basis for their legal right under international law at the San Remo Conference in 1920 to reconstitute their national home in what since the time of the Roman expulsion of the Jews in AD 70 had been called Palestine.

In other meetings with policy makers in Washington D.C. and New York Sandell pointed out how the new antisemitism is disguising itself as simply criticism of the State of Israel. “When this criticism uses double standards and Israel is judged differently from other nations it gradually becomes antisemitic. Adding old antisemitic stereotypes to this criticism, where the collective Jew, the State of Israel, is described as bloodthirsty and revengeful, easily gives rise to modern blood libels which have historically led to both pogroms and persecutions”, he said.

Sandell continued, “Today is no different. When respected media outlets and UN agencies uncritically quote Hamas controlled authorities in Gaza it fuels antisemitism. The brutal murders in the last two weeks should therefore become a warning sign as to what is to be expected when modern blood libels go unchecked.”

In a separate event in New York earlier in the week Sandell led a moderated discussion with American Jewish leader David Harris who expressed his concern over the lack of support for Israel and the Jewish communities after October 7. He warned the international community from turning Israel into another Czechoslovakia in believing that recognising a Palestinian state at this time would bring peace to the world when the opposite is more likely to be true.

Apart from bilateral meetings Sandell also participated in a podcast organised by the Jewish Policy Center, discussing how Israel is being perceived in Europe at the moment. He explained how initial EU sympathies for Israel after October 7 have gradually grown cold and how the EU is currently threatening Israel with sanctions instead of helping Israel defeat and dismantle the Hamas terrorist structure.

ECI board chairman Peter Fagerholm joined Sandell for the first part of the trip in New York where they met with UN ambassadors to discuss the upcoming UN conference on the two-state solution. On Sunday it was reported that French president Emmanuel Macron has backed down from his plan to push for a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state in New York later in the month.

However, the UN conference on the the two-state solution is still scheduled to take place as planned on 17-20 June in New York.

Picture, from left to right: Jenny Guinness, Tomas Sandell, Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson, and Os Guinness.