Rep. Stefanik honored with World Jewish Congress’ Theodor Herzl Award

Rep. Elise Stefanik accepted the World Jewish Congress's highest honor Monday night, vowing to continue fighting anti-Semitism and defending what she called “the very Western values ​​that shaped America,” just days after announcing her bid to run. New York governor.

Speaking to 400 guests at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, Stefanik received the Theodor Herzl Award from Ronald Lauder, a businessman and former U.S. ambassador to Austria under President Ronald Reagan. Established in 2012, the award is considered the highest honor of the World Jewish Congress and recognizes individuals who embody Herzl's vision of a secure and self-reliant Jewish people.

“I want to thank my friend Ambassador Ronald Lauder for his steadfast leadership and exceptional commitment to Jewish unity and security,” Stefanik said. “Under his leadership, the World Jewish Congress brought to life Theodor Herzl’s vision—not only of a Jewish homeland, but of a strong, self-reliant and respected Jewish people among nations.”

“I am deeply humbled to receive the Theodor Herzl Award from the World Jewish Congress, an organization that has been the diplomatic voice and moral conscience of the Jewish people around the world for generations,” she continued. “You defended Jewish communities in every corner of the world, fought anti-Semitism in all forms and strengthened the unbreakable bonds between Israel and the world community free nations.”

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Stefanik spoke about her fight against anti-Semitism in Congress and on college campusesrecalling his viral hearings in 2023 with the presidents of Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania.

“Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate your university’s code of conduct?” she recalled asking a question that she said was a moral question, not a political one. “I expected them to say yes.” But one after another said, “It depends on the context.” And the world heard. Let me be clear. It is NOT context dependent.”

She said the exchange “started a global reckoning and brought accountability in higher education that we are still just beginning to do.”

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Addressing New York, Stefanik said the state is “more than just a city and state in crisis—it's ground zero in the battle for the very Western values ​​that shaped America.”

“Eighty years after Kristallnacht, we must not remain silent. I will continue to criticize anti-Semitism. Fanatic. Hatred of Jews. Anti-Americanism,” she said. “This moral struggle is especially important in New York—the beloved home of more Jews than anywhere outside Israel—where anti-Semitic incidents reached a record level last year, the highest in the country.”

“My friends, the story of Theodor Herzl is not ancient history,” she said. “This is the spirit that I see in this room tonight—the spirit that built Israel, the spirit that has always animated the Jewish people, and the spirit that will save New York.”

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The reward comes the next day billionaire philanthropist Miriam Adelson expressed support for Rep. Elise Stefanik's bid for Governor of New York during the Zionist Justice Organization of America's Louis D. Brandeis Award Dinner.

Stefanik, the House Republican leadership chairman, was awarded the Zionist Organization of America's Mortimer Zuckerman Maccabee Warrior Award for her efforts to combat anti-Semitism.

Introducing her at the gala, Adelson praised Stefanik for fighting university officials over anti-Semitism and cited her late husband Sheldon Adelson's insistence on moral convictions.

Adelson described Stefanik as a “great leader,” noting that she defended “the Jewish people, Israel and the free world.”

Stefanik launched her long-awaited Republican campaign for New York governor on Friday, entering the 2026 race to challenge the Democratic governor. Kathy Hochul.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Hochul's office for comment.

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Stefanik, who once criticized President Donald Trump during his first presidential race, has since become one of his staunchest defenders in Congress.

Fox News Digital's Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.