fbpx
new gig

Trump to appoint Elan Carr Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism

The former assistant district attorney was nominated after a two-year vacancy

U.S. Embassy in Ukraine

Former U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Elan Carr

Elan Carr, a former prosecutor in the Los Angeles district attorney’s office, will be appointed as the State Department’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, according to several sources. This position, established by the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004, has been vacant since January 20, 2017.

Last September, the House of Representatives first passed the “Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act of 2018,” which requires the president to appoint an official to the post within 90 days of its passage, and within 120 days of the position’s vacancy.

From 2012 to 2014, Carr served as Alpha Epsilon Pi’s ‘Supreme Master’ on the fraternity’s ‘Supreme Board of Governors.’

Carr is a veteran of the United States Army and served as a judge in the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corp. He was also a Deputy District Attorney in Los Angeles County. In 2014, Carr ran against Rep. Ted Lieu in an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Sheldon Adelson has been a significant donor to Carr’s recent political campaigns, donating $100,000 in support of Carr’s bid for Los Angeles County supervisor in 2016.

Ira Forman, Carr’s predecessor in the Obama administration, tells us: “Many of us were calling on the administration to appoint someone. So I think we all should be heartened that the appointment has been made. I don’t know Carr, but I’ve read about him and he seems [to have] an impressive resume. I think the political skills will serve him well. You know, this is the art of the possible. You have to understand given the situation with anti-Semitism, given the administration’s own foreign policy and the situation at the State Department, what is possible and what’s doable. You have to make priorities. That’s something he and his staff will face right off the bat, and I think he has a strong background to make good decisions.”

Abe Foxman, Director of Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, emails: “It is welcome news that the President is finally about to appoint a special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism. The appointment sends a clear message to our country and across the world that America considers anti-Semitism a serious matter. The fact that this position was legislated on several occasions adds to the deliberate efforts of Congress to make it happen in a bi-partisan manner. Hopefully, other countries who have not acted in a similar manner, will.”

Subscribe now to
the Daily Kickoff

The politics and business news you need to stay up to date, delivered each morning in a must-read newsletter.