US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo poses in a family photo with participants of the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom in the Dean Acheson Auditorium at the State Department headquarters in Washington, DC, July, 18, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Mary F. Calvert.

Israel’s foreign minister expressed concern on Thursday about an “alarming rise in antisemitism” around the world.

Speaking in Washington, DC, at the second annual Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, Israel’s top diplomat, Yisrael Katz, said, “Antisemites will always find a reason to hate the Jewish people. The world is also facing the threat of radical Islamist extremism such as Daesh and Al Qaeda and the radicalism of Iran and its proxies. As the son of Holocaust survivors, I am only too aware that when antisemitism and religious extremism rise, the whole world becomes a darker and more dangerous place.”

“Religion should unify us — not divide us,” Katz added. “It is my hope that this will be the true role of religion in our region and the world.”

Katz pointed out, “In Israel, and in our capital Jerusalem, Christians, Muslims, Jews and people of every other faith are free to practice their religion. For the first time in 2,000 years, the holy places are protected. Our nearly 2 million Muslim citizens and our growing Christian population can celebrate their faith as they wish.”

At the same event, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, “Religious freedom isn’t just a Christian concern, a Jewish concern, a Muslim concern, a Buddhist concern, a Hindu concern, or a humanist concern. It’s all of our concern; it is everyone’s concern.”

Pompeo also called out the Tehran regime for its persecution of non-Shi’a Muslims.

“In the Islamic Republic of Iran, authorities ban religious minorities from possessing religious books and they deny them access to education,” Pompeo noted.

On the sidelines of the event, Katz met with his Bahraini counterpart, Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.

Yesterday I met publicly with the Foreign Minister of Bahrain ?? @khalidalkhalifa at the @statedept Ministerial on Religious Freedom
Another example of our growing diplomatic connections
I will continue to work with @IsraeliPM to advance Israel’s relations with the Gulf countries pic.twitter.com/EElPlWbwiZ

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) July 18, 2019