‘Unprecedented’ antisemitism panel tackles surging national issue

By Fox News · Fox News

EXCLUSIVE: Federal judges will tackle antisemitism at an annual convention next week, joining a rare multi-judge panel in a forum typically reserved for one-person lectures, Fox News Digital has learned. U.S. District Judge Roy Altman, who will moderate the discussion, said the panel is "unprecedented" and a needed change to address what he said was a rise in antisemitism in the aftermath of Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel in 2023. The panel is part of the Federalist Society's annual National Lawyers Convention. "This conversation on faith, understanding, and moral responsibility could not be more timely," Altman said. "It reflects the importance of the moment, the endurance of Western values, and Judge [Robert] Bork’s abiding belief in moral clarity and in the strength that comes from open dialogue." NYU BLOCKS OCT. 7 CAMPUS TALK BY JEWISH CONSERVATIVE, CITING SECURITY CONCERNS The event has for years been named after the late Bork, who, incidentally, once helped break a law firm’s avoidance of hiring Jewish lawyers, according to Senate testimony by his peers in 1987. The judges who will participate in the discussion include seven Trump appointees, including Altman, one appointee of former President George Bush, and a justice of the Texas Supreme Court. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Altman, a vocal Jewish judge who is based in the Southern District of Florida, said he has also arranged numerous trips for federal judges of varying faiths to visit Israel after the Oct. 7 attack. He said that although his personal conversations about Israel had largely been centered on campuses, "it became clear" to him that the judiciary needed to chime in because heated discourse surrounding the topic involved legal questions. The deadly attack in Israel reignited conflict in Gaza and led to nationwide anti-Israel protests, especially on U.S. college campuses. Protesters claimed Israel was killing thousands of innocent Palestinians in Gaza indiscriminately, while the Isr…