WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump will sign an executive order this week directing the government to consider a specific definition of anti-Semitism in discrimination cases, circumventing Congress, White House and congressional sources told McClatchy.
Jewish American groups and Israel advocates have pressed Congress and the White House to take action since 2016 amid a spike in anti-Semitic incidents nationwide. But Trump's move could prompt a high-stakes court battle with free speech advocates, who argue that denying Israel's right to exist is protected under the First Amendment.
Executive action is likely to please the president's allies in the Israel advocacy community and, entering the heat of the 2020 presidential race, provide his campaign with a counterpoint to continued criticism that Trump himself has fueled rising anti-Semitism.
The order will direct the Justice Department and the Education Department to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition and its adjoining examples _ which state that efforts to demonize, delegitimize or apply double standards to Israel are anti-Semitic _ in discrimination cases brought forth under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
While Trump's order has been in the works for months, its rollout coincides with two Hanukkah receptions on Wednesday at the White House, gathering Republican Jewish supporters of his Israel policy.
The IHRA framework has been recognized by the State Department, Israel, France, Germany and several other European governments. But it is not without controversy.
In the United States, the American Civil Liberties Union has opposed its usage under the Civil Rights Act on constitutional grounds. And overseas, a debate within the British Labour Party over whether to adopt the definition with all of its examples has embroiled its leader, Jeremy Corbyn, in scandal ahead of Thursday's parliamentary elections there.
Trump's executive order, crafted by Jared Kushner, the president's senior adviser and son-in-law, and his longtime aide, Avi Berkowitz, adopts the language of a stymied bill supported by Republicans and Democrats in both houses of Congress.
That legislation, titled the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, would also require the Education Department to consider the IHRA definition under Title VI _ a provision of the law that prohibits the flow of federal dollars to programs and organizations found to discriminate on the basis of race, color or national origin.
While the bill was initially drafted by lawmakers from both parties, Republicans introduced it on their own this year after Democrats requested a pause to consider alternative legislative options.
One Democratic author of the House legislation, Ted Deutch of Florida, now wants the bill broadened beyond its narrow focus on the Education Department _ which began applying the IHRA definition in civil rights cases last year _ in favor of a "whole of government" approach that directs all federal agencies to adopt the framework.
"It's not that we won't reintroduce it _ what we're considering is what is the most effective way to address anti-semitism," a senior aide to Deutch said, noting that his office had not seen the text of the executive order.
"If what happens is that the president takes the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, turns it into an executive order and applies it to other agencies, that is generally something we would support," the aide said.
The administration worked with Democrats on the order, consulting with David Krone, former chief of staff to former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, among others.
The executive order supersedes prior guidance and directs all relevant agencies, particularly the Justice Department and the Education Department, to "consider" the definition, according to one senior administration official, who said the White House would still welcome congressional passage of a law that would strengthen Trump's executive order.
Kushner first raised the idea of executive action in the spring, working with the White House counsel's office and the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department to address concerns expressed last year by the ACLU over the congressional effort. Kushner also consulted with Paul Clement, former United States solicitor general under President George W. Bush, the senior official said.
Last year, the ACLU argued that Title VI already protects religious minorities such as Jews from discrimination, and warned that the IHRA examples of anti-Semitism are "constitutionally protected statements about Israel, including accusing people of 'being more loyal to Israel' than to the United States, applying a 'double standard for Israel,' or 'denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination.' "
Over the past decade, state and local governments have passed aggressive legislation to combat the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement targeting Israel, withholding critical dollars from organizations that partake in the cause.
Those efforts have gained national steam amid rising rates of anti-Semitism across the country, particularly on American college campuses, according to data collected by the FBI and the Anti-Defamation League.
The administration's action on Wednesday will come on the heels of yet another controversy over Trump's rhetoric toward Jews, after he told an Israeli-American group in Florida last weekend that he expects attendees to vote for him in 2020 in order to protect their wealth.
