WASHINGTON — The Heritage Foundation announced today that Elan S. Carr, former U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, will join Heritage as a visiting fellow to help advise policymakers and Heritage research experts on the threats posed by antisemitism internationally, and counsel analysts on proposals to address the rising tide of antisemitism around the world, including in the United States.
Appointed special envoy in 2019 by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Carr served as the senior diplomatic representative of the United States and the senior adviser to Pompeo on the subject of antisemitism, and directed U.S. policy and programs aimed at combating it.
During his two years in office, Carr negotiated groundbreaking agreements with foreign governments, convened the first-ever U.S. government-sponsored conference on combating online hate, and drove the establishment of important new policies on anti-Zionism, anti-Israel discrimination, and campus antisemitism.
He also significantly broadened the global consensus on the definition of antisemitism, and conducted an aggressive and global public diplomacy campaign, delivering more than 180 speeches throughout the world and conducting numerous press interviews.
Prior to joining the Trump administration, Carr prosecuted violent felony crimes for more than a decade as a deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County. He is also an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve and has received multiple awards for his two decades of military service. In 2003-04, he spent nearly a year deployed in Iraq.
“I am honored to join The Heritage Foundation as we work to defend American heritage and Jewish heritage in the face of increasing assaults on both. The global rise in antisemitism is a threat to all of us, and I am thrilled that The Heritage Foundation is devoting considerable resources to combatting it,” said Carr.
“It is a sad but unmistakable reality that the forces of antisemitism are on the rise around the globe, including here within our own country,” said James Carafano, vice president of Heritage’s Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy and E.W. Richardson fellow. “I can think of no one better equipped to shine a light on this threat, and present solutions to combat it, than Elan Carr. He has fought the forces of antisemitism from the places of highest influence—and emerged victorious time and time again. I know Heritage will benefit immensely from his experiences and perspectives, as will policymakers in Washington, and without a doubt, the American people as a whole.”
As a visiting fellow, Carr will handle a host of responsibilities, including representing Heritage’s Thatcher Center for Freedom in carrying out the organization’s “Initiative on Antisemitism,” organizing and hosting public and private events on antisemitism, and engaging with the House and Senate Bipartisan Task Forces for Combatting Antisemitism to support constructive efforts to highlight the problem of antisemitism and combat it.
