US to form inter-agency group to counter antisemitism, Islamophobia

US President Joe Biden is establishing an inter-agency group to coordinate efforts to counter antisemitism, Islamophobia and related forms of bias and discrimination, the White House said on Monday.

"The President has tasked the inter-agency group, as its first order of business, to develop a national strategy to counter antisemitism," the White House said in a statement.

The move comes as reports of antisemitism have increased nationwide. The issue drew headlines in recent weeks after former Republican President Donald Trump hosted white supremacist Nick Fuentes and the musician formerly known as Kanye West at his private club in Florida.

The White House addressed rising antisemitism in a roundtable event with Jewish leaders last week.

West, now called Ye, has drawn widespread criticism for a spate of antisemitic comments - including praise for Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler - and was suspended from Twitter recently.

Some Republicans have criticized Trump's dinner with Fuentes and Ye, but have stopped short of directly criticising Trump, who has said he did not know Fuentes.

Last year saw the largest number of antisemitic incidents, including murder, physical assaults, harassment and vandalism, since the Anti-Defamation League began collecting records 40 years ago, the racism watchdog said in its most recent annual audit.

According to FBI data released on Monday, more than 7,200 hate crimes were reported in 2021 in the US. Over 60% of the reported incidents were based on race, ancestry or ethnicity, while about one in six were classified as sexual orientation-bias crimes and one in seven as religion-bias crimes.