By Ron Kampeas
After months of speculation, President Joe Biden has chosen Baltimorean Chanan Y. Weissman as the White House’s liaison to the Jewish community.
“Chanan brings a wealth of experience, including his previous service in this role during the Obama-Biden Administration,” read a White House statement issued Aug. 6. “Chanan’s official first day will be Monday, August 16th … We are thrilled for him to step into this role at this critically important time.”
Weissman, 37, is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service who has also worked at the Pentagon on Middle East issues, He is a Baltimore native and graduated from Pikesville’s Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community Day School in 2001.
In 2006, Weissman earned a bachelor of arts degree in journalism and government and politics from the University of Maryland, College Park. He lives in Pikesville with his wife, Dr. Elana Weissman, and their three daughters. He is a member of Pikesville Jewish Congregation.
Weissman was President Barack Obama’s Jewish liaison in the last months of his presidency. In a 2016 interview with Hillel International, Weissman spoke about the facets of serving as Jewish community liaison to the White House.
“I liken the position to a bridge with lanes operating in both directions,” he said. “I need to, at once, convey the president’s policies and positions to the Jewish community but also need to fully capture and convey the wide [and growing] range of perspectives from the Jewish community back to the decision-makers at the White House.”
Weissman’s LinkedIn profile says he has since May been director of technology and democracy at the White House’s National Security Council. It’s not yet clear if he will maintain that position as he assumes the role of Jewish liaison.
Jewish groups have been pressing the White House to name a Jewish liaison and a State Department antisemitism monitor as antisemitism has spiked in recent months. Last week, Biden nominated Deborah Lipstadt, a noted Holocaust historian, to be the anti-Semitism monitor.
The Anti-Defamation League praised the appointment of Weissman.
“Especially in light of the recent rise in antisemitic incidents, we’re pleased the White House has chosen Chanan Weissman to finally fill the position of liaison to the Jewish American community,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADL CEO, said in a statement. “This will improve the Biden Administration’s ability to foster relationships with the Jewish community and work with stakeholders to address concerns such as antisemitism and extremism.”
In a statement, the American Jewish Committee said, “We welcome President Biden’s decision to reestablish the position of White House Jewish liaison and congratulate our friend Chanan Weissman for reassuming this key role. We look forward to working together to tackle challenges facing American Jews and our nation.”
On Facebook, the Baltimore Jewish Council posted, “We applaud the Biden Administration’s appointment of Baltimore native Chanan Weissman as White House liaison to the Jewish community. We look forward to working with him through our partners at the Jewish Federations of North America and Jewish Council for Public Affairs to address the address the critical issues our community faces.”
Weissman returned to the State Department with Donald Trump’s assumption of the presidency in 2017 as a career hire, not a political appointee, and remained in the department in various capacities through April.
Ron Kampeas writes for the JTA global Jewish news source. Jmore staff contributed to this report.
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