October 23, 2025 — Madrid, Spain
American Jewish Committee (AJC), the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people, together with 15 communities from across Iberoamerica, today issued The Madrid Declaration, calling on governments throughout the region to protect local Jewish communities from the growing “atmosphere of targeting and fear” and to prioritize the rebuilding of diplomatic relations with the State of Israel.
AJC’s Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs (BILLA) convened more than 100 Iberoamerican Jewish leaders for its annual three-day Strategic Forum in Madrid this week.
“Despite the difficult climate, we know how important it is for AJC to be here in Spain to support our partners from the Spanish Jewish Community—both to stand side-by-side with them in solidarity and to speak with moral clarity,” said AJC CEO Ted Deutch. “Our timely presence in a country we have visited many times comes as the Spanish community is facing dire challenges stemming from anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric and incitement across society ranging from the media to the arts and sports to government officials. I am proud that AJC’s BILLA convened this Strategic Forum with our partners from the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain to reinforce our collective commitment to help protect Spanish Jewish life as it faces threats to its well-being and to play a constructive role in getting relations between Spain and Israel back on track.”
David Obadia, President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain and one of the signatories to the Madrid Declaration, expressed “deep appreciation for AJC’s long-time partnership, and for choosing Madrid as the host city for the Forum particularly during such fraught moments for Spanish Jewry and Spain-Israel relations. Thank you as well to so many Jewish leaders from sister communities for being here to explore shared challenges and for conveying their feelings of solidarity.”
Noting “deep concern over the unprecedented rise in antisemitism in some of our countries since October 7, 2023” and that “[t]his surge has been accompanied by inflammatory rhetoric, incitement, the stigmatization of the State of Israel, and the dangerous use of collective responsibility,” the communities specifically urge governments to:
- improve hate crime reporting systems,
- create and provide educational content that addresses antisemitic stereotypes — including the stigmatization and delegitimization of Israel – for students of all ages,
- train law enforcement personnel on how to identify and respond to antisemitism, and
- strengthen the resources allocated for community protection.
The signatories also emphasized that “[i]t is also essential to distinguish between legitimate political criticism and incitement to hatred, and to remember that when Israel is dehumanized or Jews are judged by the actions of a state, a dangerous line is crossed—one that undermines the democratic and coexistence values that the Spanish state upholds.”
“We arrived in Spain at a pivotal time, as antisemitism is growing and the local Jewish community feels endangered,” said AJC President Bobby Lapin. “We understand that hateful rhetoric—both antisemitic and intensely anti-Israel—can escalate into violence. That’s why we must take action. Over the past few days, together with our partners in Spain’s Jewish community, we’ve been exploring concrete ways to push back against hate.”
“We came to Spain bearing a message of friendship and mutual responsibility,” said Dina Siegel Vann, Founding Director of AJC’s BILLA. “We have worked side by side with our Spanish Jewish partners and with successive Spanish political, diplomatic, and civil society interlocutors throughout the years to strengthen historical and current connections with the Jewish world as well as the trilateral alliance between the U.S., Ibero-America, and Israel. Antisemitism, whether manifested through accusations of collective guilt or denial of Israel's legitimacy, is in direct opposition to the democratic principles that Ibero-American societies seek to uphold and is a threat to all."
Joining AJC on the joint statement are: Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina, Federação Israelita do Estado de São Paulo, Comunidad Judía de Chile, Confederación de Comunidades Judías de Colombia, Centro Israelita Sionista de Costa Rica, Centro Israelita de la República Dominicana, Comunidad Judía Guatemala, Comité Central de la Comunidad Judía de México, Congreso Judío Panameño, Consejo Central Comunitario Hebreo de Panamá, Comunidad Judía del Paraguay, Comunidad Judia del Peru, Comunidade Israelita de Lisboa, Federación de Comunidades Judías de España, Comité Central Israelita del Uruguay.
The text of The Madrid Declaration can be found below.
The leaders of the Jewish communities of Ibero-America, gathered in Madrid during the Strategic Forum of the Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs of the American Jewish Committee, under the auspices of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain, express our deep concern over the unprecedented rise in antisemitism in some of our countries since October 7, 2023. This surge has been accompanied by inflammatory rhetoric, incitement, the stigmatization of the State of Israel, and the dangerous use of collective responsibility.
While we recognize and applaud that all our countries have made significant gestures of rapprochement, friendship, and reconciliation with the Jewish people over the decades, we call for additional efforts to address the serious current challenges that threaten to undermine those hard-earned achievements.
We appreciate that Spain, the host country of this gathering, has a National Plan against Antisemitism and is a member of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), demonstrating an institutional commitment to combating hatred and intolerance. However, we also recognize that in the past two years there has been a proliferation of deeply stigmatizing discourse toward Israel, which has led to a significant increase in antisemitism in the country. This climate of hostility has not originated from a single sector but has spread across all areas—political, cultural, educational, sports, and social—reviving ancient prejudices and creating an atmosphere of targeting and fear among Jewish citizens.
Measures to combat this scourge must include improving hate crime reporting systems, incorporating educational content that challenges antisemitic stereotypes—including the stigmatization and delegitimization of Israel—training law enforcement, and strengthening resources dedicated to community protection. It is also essential to distinguish between legitimate political criticism and incitement to hatred, and to remember that when Israel is dehumanized or Jews are judged by the actions of a state, a dangerous line is crossed—one that undermines the democratic and coexistence values that the Spanish state upholds.
We also value the fact that many Ibero-American countries support the Peace Plan presented by the United States, with the backing of Arab nations and much of the international community—offering, for the first time since the beginning of the conflict, a realistic future horizon for the Palestinian people. We call for expressions of collective mourning for all civilian lives lost as a result of Hamas’s terrorist attacks and the ensuing violence, while reaffirming support for Israel’s right to defend its population and to establish future conditions that allow it to live in peace and security; for the continued demand for the immediate and unconditional release of the remains of deceased hostages still held in Gaza; and for the ongoing humanitarian access to the population of the Strip.
Our countries have demonstrated their unwavering commitment to democratic values, human rights, and the fight against all forms of discrimination. Protecting Jewish communities and, at the same time, constructively reorienting diplomatic relations with the State of Israel—whose population, in its great majority, shares the same democratic and human rights values—must therefore be urgent priority.
AJC's Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs (BILLA) is a unique initiative that strengthens the Jewish community’s bonds of friendship with growing U.S. Latino communities and the countries of Latin America, Spain, and Portugal. BILLA partners with local Jewish communities and other sectors of civil society to promote relations among their countries, the U.S., and Israel. BILLA is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with additional staff in Miami and a representative in São Paulo. For more, please visit www.ajc.org/billa.
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