U.S. Senator Chris Coons discusses the rise of antisemitism in America and U.S. relations with Israel with students at the Hillel Kristol Center for Jewish Life.

Coons speaks at UD Hillel

Article by Amy Wolf Photos by Evan Krape April 25, 2023

U.S. Senator discusses antisemitism in America and U.S. relations with Israel

When U.S. Senator Chris Coons of Delaware was an undergraduate student at Amherst College, he said some things that he didn’t intend to be harmful but were antisemitic. A classmate of his, he recalled, who is now a rabbinical leader in the United States, challenged him, but in a respectful way that he could hear. That conversation, he said, changed his outlook and now serves as his model to combat hatred.

It was that same message that Coons shared with students at the University of Delaware: Educate people who are unaware of the casual hatred they spread, even when that is difficult to do.

“Find ways to condemn hatred but, if possible, not to condemn those who speak it if there is any hope for education and reconciliation and advancement,” he said. “And be persistent in your insistence on righteous and truthful communication. And sometimes that means listening before you speak. But don't let things go by unchallenged.”

Coons discussed the rise of antisemitism in America and U.S. relations with Israel, among other topics, with students at the Kristol Center for Jewish Life on Friday, April 21, at an event sponsored by UD Hillel, a Jewish campus organization.

Founded in 1948, Hillel at UD is the focal point of Jewish student life on campus. With 2,250 Jewish students on campus — about 13% of the undergraduate population — Hillel paves the way for students to have meaningful Jewish experiences.

“As part of Hillel, we invite our congressional leaders to come to campus so that students can get a perspective on what's going on both here in Delaware and around the world,” said Donna Schwartz, executive director of UD Hillel. “Part of our mission is to educate around Israel, and with Senator Coons being on the Foreign Affairs Committee, it's really important for us to have him and his perspective here.”

The event was sponsored by UD Hillel, a Jewish campus organization. Pictured, from left to right, are Lani Chavin, UD Hillel Springboard Fellow; Rabbi Jeremy Weisblatt, UD Hillel campus director; Coons; and Donna Schwartz, UD Hillel executive director.

Coons, who is the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, has visited Israel eight times and has met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other national leaders several times throughout his 13 years in the Senate.

At the event, Coons answered students’ questions related to the United States-Israeli partnership, the U.S.’s commitment to Israel’s security, and Israel’s proposed judicial overhaul plan.

“I think it's important to see Israel in its complexity. It is not a two-dimensional country,” Coons said. “It's too easy to make it either the perfect country that must be supported and upheld in every single circumstance, or this uniquely evil country that is the source of all bad things that happen in the world. It is neither… Israel is a nation in the very process, right in front of our eyes, of debating and discussing what it is going to be.”

Josh Koppel, a first-year energy and environmental policy major, is involved with Hillel and student government and was intrigued to hear what the senator had to say.

“He had a lot of interesting insights on issues that I never really considered before,” Koppel said. “I really thought it was a great discussion and a great way to get more Jewish students involved in thinking about these kinds of issues.”

During the discussion, one student asked about the role of education in understanding antisemitism throughout American history.

“Antisemitism has been present since the founding of our country, and if you don't talk about those things, confront those things, engage those things — I don't understand how you can be an educated American,” Coons said. “I think civic education requires understanding our actual factual history. We do a disservice in education when we say that we can competently educate Americans and not ever talk about some of the hardest chapters and some of the worst things in our history. That's how you overcome them.”

Gefen Galfand, a senior psychology major and past president of the Blue Hens for Israel student group, enjoyed the conversation and thought the event was educational.

“This was right up my alley, and I was very curious to hear what he had to say,” said Galfand, who is Jewish and went to Israel with Hillel over spring break. “I really like that he doesn't speak about anything in an aggressive way or an ill tempered way. He was very even keel about the whole thing, and I think that's sometimes a rarity when it comes to talking about Israel, so I appreciate that.”

Coons said that Israel, relative to its size, is one of the most innovative countries in the world and that he hopes for a world in which all young people can live in societies where they have the opportunity to contribute, innovate and grow.

“My basic view is that to the extent we can, where we can, we should reduce human suffering and try and help create opportunity,” Coons said. “I think genius and talent is evenly distributed across the human genome. Whether you're in a refugee camp in South Sudan or going to a private school in Wilmington, Delaware, the odds that you're really talented are roughly equal. But the odds that you will have the opportunity to express it are dramatically different.”