Updated at 6:10 p.m. April 8.
Before the Oct. 7 terrorist attack and Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, Jews were already the target of more than 60 percent of religiously motivated hate crimes in California.
Anti-Jewish “violence and threats have escalated” in the state since that day, according to the governor’s office. In San Francisco, hate crimes targeting Jews quadrupled last year compared with 2022. And most of last year’s anti-Jewish hate crimes in the city occurred in October and November.
Following Oct. 7, the Sacramento-based Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California asked Gov. Gavin Newsom to create a plan to combat anti-Jewish hatred. Dubbed “The Golden State Plan to Counter Antisemitism,” the plan was released Friday.
“Antisemitism is unacceptable and demands action,” Newsom said in a statement. “California is committed to confronting antisemitism in all its forms and protecting those who are targeted simply because of who they are.”
JPAC executive director David Bocarsly describes it as a “whole-of-society” plan that covers everything from the climate on college campuses to Holocaust education to police training to better enforce anti-hate laws.
“Shortly after Oct. 7, we asked the governor to meet and discuss rising antisemitism here at home,” Bocarsly recalled of the meeting, which included leaders from more than 20 Jewish organizations. “We said, ‘Thank you for all you’ve done, and we’d like you to do more.’ We asked him to put together a comprehensive plan to address antisemitism in all the ways it’s manifesting, and he enthusiastically agreed on the spot.”
To write the plan, the governor’s office worked with JPAC and the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, which includes members of the state Senate and Assembly. The plan’s authors also got input from organizations such as S.F.-based Jewish Family and Children’s Services.
The plan focuses on four areas: supporting and protecting Jewish communities, addressing and preventing antisemitism, uplifting Jewish heritage and “advancing equity and countering discrimination.”
It doesn’t include commitments to allocate new money, but Bocarsly said the plan protects current funding and “uplifts existing programs as state priorities, giving them a leg up in future budget negotiations.”
According to the plan, the governor will work with legislators on more funding for state programs such as Stop the Hate, nonprofit security grants, support for local prosecutors and teacher training.
Among several initiatives designed to help protect Jews, the plan encourages leaders of the University of California, California State University and community college systems to “strengthen student codes of conduct … to better address incidents of harassment and intimidation” and to “enforce campus safety policies and cultivate spaces for affinity and dialogue amid rising antisemitism and anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bias incidents.”
Bocarsly said there’s a reason why the hostility that Jewish college students have faced was the first order of business in the plan.
“Jewish students have simply not felt safe since Oct. 7,” he said. “We’ve heard stories of students not wearing their yarmulkes or Stars of David, of people bullied and harassed, and not being able to succeed in their academic pursuits. It’s a really scary time to be on campus. Our hope is that with this initiative, harassment, intimidation and violence will no longer be pervasive.”
The plan notes that in mid-October, Newsom allocated an additional $20 million to “further enhance security at religious institutions, places of worship, and faith-based institutions across the state,” as well as $10 million to “increase police presence at places of worship — including synagogues and other Jewish institutions.”
The second area — “addressing and preventing antisemitism and all hate and violence” — points to $150 million that the state has invested in its Stop the Hate program, which backs hate-crime and violence-prevention programs.
In terms of law enforcement, the plan notes that since Oct. 7, the state’s hate crimes coordinator has “directly spoken with the hate crimes prosecutors in 38 District Attorney and City Attorney offices … to convey the assistance and resources available to support local hate crimes prosecution and enforcement efforts.”
Under the plan’s third area, “uplifting Jewish heritage and building mutual understanding,” the state will continue working to combat antisemitism in K-12 schools by bolstering Holocaust and genocide education, providing additional funding for anti-bias education grants for schools and tracking instances of antisemitism and bias in schools.
The state already has plans to train 8,500 teachers in Holocaust and genocide education by 2027 through professional development workshops and institutes to ultimately reach more than a million California students.
The fourth area, “advancing equity and countering discrimination,” includes an executive order that requires the state’s civil rights division “to accelerate implementation of actions to protect communities against hate violence and discrimination.”
While the plan is clear about standing against anti-Jewish discrimination and hate, it also emphasizes California’s commitment to Israel. It reinforces the longstanding economic ties between the two, exemplified in the memorandum of understanding signed 10 years ago. The plan notes the “$1.96 billion in exports from California to Israel and $1.54 billion in imports from Israel to California in 2022.”
The California Legislative Jewish Caucus applauded the release of the blueprint.
“This plan is essential to combat the rising hate our community is experiencing,” state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco, caucus co-chair, said in a statement. “In recent months we have seen a wave of hate against our community that many thought we would never again see in our lifetime. It has put our community on edge in a way that few can appreciate if they have not experienced it themselves.”
Newsom has made several trips to Israel, including one last fall to meet with families impacted by the Oct. 7 massacre. The state also donated a field hospital and medical supplies to support Israel in December.
While many people and groups contributed to the new plan, Bocarsly credits the governor for his leadership on the issue of combating antisemitism.
“Newsom has been such an incredibly strong ally to our community throughout his time in office,” he said. “He’s deeply knowledgeable, deeply passionate, and it’s demonstrated by his actions. This [plan] is just the latest example.”