The Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on the rise in hate crimes this week will not focus exclusively on domestic antisemitism despite GOP efforts within the committee to secure a hearing exclusively on the topic. 

Tuesday’s hearing is a first for the Senate since Oct. 7 and the proceedings are not shaping up as a bipartisan effort. Judiciary Committee Republicans have been urging Democrats for months to convene a hearing on how the uptick in antisemitism on college campuses is violating the civil rights of Jewish students — similar to their House GOP counterparts’ hearings with embattled university presidents earlier in the year. 

Led by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), every Republican on the panel sent a letter to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who chairs the committee, in May to request he hold a hearing “on the civil rights violations of Jewish students” and “the proliferation of terrorist ideology — two issues that fall squarely within this Committee’s purview.”

“We are witnessing in real-time the radicalization and indoctrination of people across the country

by terrorist organizations who wish to end America as we know it. This has been simmering below the surface for some time. There are several university-sanctioned centers, curricula, and other events that are anti-Semitic and espouse radical terrorist-aligned beliefs. Recent events have emboldened these radicals to now show their true colors. Our national security is at risk,” the group wrote.

Democrats instead opted to organize a hearing on the “rise in hate incidents across the country, particularly targeting the Jewish, Arab, and Muslim communities” since Oct. 7, which Republicans ultimately objected to. Both sides will not have an equal number of witnesses as a result. Democrats will have two witnesses while Republicans will have one. 

Despite the criticism about the lack of bipartisanship, Tuesday’s proceedings will be the first time Senate Democrats will be addressing the issue of antsemitism at a hearing since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel and ensuing rise in antisemitism.

The situation is being met with concern from some parts of the Jewish community. The Orthodox Union sent a letter to Durbin and Graham on Monday alleging that the Senate Judiciary Committee “has been missing in action. This has been dispiriting to our community.”

“We appreciate that the Committee is holding this hearing and that, we expect, it will include an extensive examination of the unprecedented surge in antisemitism in the United States that has occurred since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack upon Israel. However, we would be remiss if we did not say that our appreciation is mixed with disappointment,” the letter reads. 

A Durbin spokesperson told JI, “To be clear: Sen. Durbin did not decline a request from Republicans for a hearing on antisemitism. Quite the opposite. He is holding a hearing that will examine all forms of hate — including antisemitism — because it has no place in America.”

The hearing comes amid growing calls for Senate Democrats to take action on the matter. 

The Senate’s post-Oct. 7 record on antisemitism stands in contrast with the House, which passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act and has launched investigations of antisemitism across a series of committees and subcommittees, with a focus on campus antisemitism. Some Democrats have criticized those GOP-led efforts in the lower chamber as politically motivated.