Biden calls for speaking out on anti-Semitism, reaffirming Israel bond in Rosh Hashanah message

President Biden on Sunday called for Americans to speak out against antisemitism and to reaffirm the bond the U.S. has with Israel in a statement celebrating Rosh Hashanah.

“Rosh Hashanah is a reaffirmation that we are each endowed, by virtue of our Creator and our common humanity, with the ability to bridge the gap between the world we see and the world we seek. In that effort, we’ve made significant progress, but much work remains,” Biden said in a statement.

Rosh Hashanah begins on Monday evening and ends on Wednesday evening.

“To protect ourselves and each other against a once-in-a-century virus. To rebuild an economy that provides opportunity for all Americans. To give hate no safe harbor, and speak out with clarity and conviction against antisemitism wherever and however it manifests. To reaffirm our ironclad bond with the State of Israel,” he added.

The president called for the year 5782, referring to new year that starts at sundown on Monday, to be a year of “health, healing, and progress.”

Biden and first lady Jill Biden extended warm wishes to those celebrating Rosh Hashanah in the U.S., Israel, and around the world. 

The president held a virtual event with U.S. rabbis ahead of the Jewish high holidays on Thursday.

Earlier this month, Biden hosted Naftali Bennett, Israel’s prime minister, for a meeting at the White House. The meeting was postponed by a day in light of an attack in Kabul that claimed the lives of 13 U.S. service members./

Biden, to kick off the meeting with Bennett, said that there’s “an unshakable partnership between our two nations.”