Trump’s Chabad‑Linked Antisemitism Envoy Nominee Puts the Movement’s Non‑Partisan Brand to the Test

Former president Donald Trump has nominated Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, a Florida businessman with deep Lubavitcher roots, to serve as the U.S. State Department’s Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism. If the Senate confirms him, Kaploun would be the first strictly Orthodox — and the first Chabad‑Lubavitch — Hasid to hold the post.

A Heir to Chabad Pioneers

Kaploun was born in Israel’s Kfar Chabad to families that helped plant the movement on two continents: his paternal grandfather, Rabbi Moshe Zalman Feiglin, opened Chabad’s first Australian outpost, while his maternal grandfather, Rabbi Moshe Yitzhak Hecht, built Lubavitch yeshivot across the United States and once represented the Rebbe at the White House.

After moving to New York, Kaploun gained rabbinic ordination but opted for business and government relations over pulpit life. In 2017 he co‑founded RussKap Water, a company that turns humidity into potable water; the firm won a multi‑year U.S. military supply contract for its “Tiffany” atmospheric‑water generators and now markets in more than forty countries.

Trump’s Trusted Orthodox Surrogate

Kaploun served as Trump’s Jewish‑outreach director during the 2024 campaign and is a regular at Mar‑a‑Lago fund‑raisers. His elevation continues the former president’s pattern of drawing advisers from the Orthodox world: Jared Kushner and Ambassador David Friedman in term one, and now Kaploun for the State Department post.

Warm Praise From the OU, Cool Silence From Chabad

The Orthodox Union issued an immediate congratulatory release calling Kaploun’s appointment “critical at a time of surging Jew‑hatred.” Chabad headquarters, by contrast, has offered no public endorsement, and several insiders told Haaretz they fear that Kaploun’s hard‑right rhetoric and Trump loyalty could alienate donors who see the movement as studiously non‑partisan.

Blowback on Capitol Hill

Democratic lawmakers have already signaled a fight. Rep. Jerry Nadler, co‑chair of the House Jewish Caucus, labeled the pick “absurd and insulting,” citing Kaploun’s claim that Democrats refused to condemn the October 7 Hamas attacks. Progressive Jewish outlets such as Mondoweiss have highlighted his praise for ultranationalist Israeli figures and his depiction of elite U.S. campuses as unsafe for kippah‑wearing Jews.

What the Envoy Actually Does

Congress created the envoy’s office in the Global Anti‑Semitism Review Act of 2004, tasking it with tracking antisemitic incidents abroad, advising U.S. embassies, and feeding data into the State Department’s annual human‑rights and religious‑freedom reports. In 2021 Congress upgraded the role to ambassador‑at‑large, making Senate confirmation mandatory.

Should Kaploun win confirmation he would succeed historian Deborah Lipstadt, whose tenure was marked by a push for a whole‑of‑government strategy and an expanded definition of Jew‑hatred that includes some forms of anti‑Zionism.

Why the Stakes Feel Higher in 2025

According to preliminary FBI data compiled by the Anti‑Defamation League, anti‑Jewish hate‑crime reports jumped 63 percent in 2024, with more than 8,800 incidents — the highest tally since the ADL began tracking in 1979. Total incidents logged since the Hamas massacre of 7 October 2023 now top 10,000. ADLADL University campuses account for a disproportionate share, making the envoy’s public‑diplomacy platform unusually prominent.

The Road to Confirmation

Trump formally transmitted Kaploun’s nomination to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week; as of press time, no hearing date has been announced. Capitol insiders expect Democrats to probe his past statements and business ties, while Republicans are likely to showcase the ADL numbers and frame the nomination as overdue. A floor vote could come before the July recess if the committee majority agrees to move him forward. (Procedural details based on standard Senate practice.)

What It Means for Chabad

Chabad’s 5,000 emissaries rely on goodwill across the political spectrum to keep thousands of campus, military and “Chabad House” centers running. Accepting a partisan mantle risks undercutting that outreach model. Whether the movement eventually rallies around Kaploun or continues to keep its distance will say much about how America’s fastest‑growing Hasidic brand navigates a hyper‑polarized moment.

For now, the nomination has opened a rare rift between Trump‑aligned Orthodox activists and a global movement that has spent decades insisting it is everyone’s friend and no one’s party. The Senate hearing — whenever it is finally gaveled in — will reveal whether that balancing act can hold.