Last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced he would appoint former prosecutor Elan Carr, 50, as Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism. The position was established by the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004 to fight anti-Semitism as part of US foreign policy. Jewish organizations on the left and the right welcomed Carr’s appointment.

Bipartisan Support

In 2014, Carr ran for Congress as a moderate Republican in California’s 33rd District, but lost to Democrat Ted Lieu. “It’s about being the kind of candidate who wants to go to Washington, reach across the aisle, and compromise, something that lately has become a dirty word in Congress,” Carr said back then.

After Carr was appointed special envoy on anti-Semitism, his former opponent, Ted Lieu, praised him in a warm press release, saying, “Elan’s track record serving his country is inspiring… I look forward to working with Elan to stamp out hatred around the globe.”

Iraqi Roots

Carr’s father is of Ashkenazic descent but his mother was born in Iraq’s Jewish community, and she recounted to him how her family suffered persecution there, even being jailed on false charges. Carr has said his mother’s story deeply influenced him. His parents sent him to Jewish schools, and he said in one interview that he used to speak only Hebrew to his mother.

Chanukah in Baghdad

He got the chance to return to Iraq to mete out justice, as a judge advocate in the US Army legal system during the second Gulf War. His service there gave him the opportunity to light Chanukah candles in Saddam Hussein’s former presidential palace. He still holds the rank of major in the United States Army Reserves and has earned several citations and medals.

Seasoned Lawyer

Carr until recently served in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, and prosecuted violent offenders, gang members, and even a serial murderer. In the 1990s he advised Israel’s Justice Ministry on how to set up its public prosecution department. He combined his army service and his legal knowledge when he helped establish an independent justice system in Iraq, training judges and lawyers and teaching them constitutional law.

Fierce BDS Opponent

During college Carr was a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi, the world’s leading Jewish college fraternity, and from 2012 to 2014 he served as the organization’s international president. In that role he won praise for his leadership in combating BDS on college campuses.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 748)