Rep. Elise Stefanik was presented with the World Jewish Congress’ top honor Monday night, pledging to keep up her fight against antisemitism and protect what she described as “the very Western values that have shaped America” shortly after announcing her campaign for New York governor.
Speaking to an audience of 400 at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, Stefanik accepted the Theodor Herzl Award from Ronald Lauder, the businessman and former U.S. ambassador to Austria under President Ronald Reagan. The award, established in 2012, is the World Jewish Congress’ highest distinction and acknowledges individuals who embody Herzl’s vision of a secure and independent Jewish people.
“I want to thank my friend Ambassador Ronald Lauder for his unwavering leadership and his extraordinary dedication to Jewish unity and security,” Stefanik stated. “Under his leadership, the World Jewish Congress has furthered Theodor Herzl’s vision — not just of a Jewish homeland, but of a Jewish people who are strong, independent, and respected by all nations.”
“It is a profound honor to receive the Theodor Herzl Award from the World Jewish Congress — an organization that has served for generations as the diplomatic voice and moral compass of Jewish people worldwide,” she added. “You have defended Jewish communities in every part of the world, combatted antisemitism in all its forms, and strengthened the vital ties between Israel and the global community of free countries.”
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Stefanik recounted her efforts to combat antisemitism in Congress and on college campuses, referencing her widely viewed 2023 hearing 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 remembered asking, framing it as a moral, not political, question. “I expected them to answer ‘yes.’ But one after another said, ‘it depends on the context.’ And the world took notice. Let me be clear. It does NOT depend on the context.”
She commented that the exchange “sparked a global reckoning and initiated accountability in higher education that is still in its early stages.”
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Turning her attention to New York, Stefanik asserted that the state “is not only a city and state in crisis — it is the central arena in the fight for the very Western values that have shaped America.”
“Eighty years after Kristallnacht, we cannot remain silent. I will continue to denounce Antisemitism. Bigotry. Jew-hatred. Anti-Americanism,” she declared. “This moral battle is especially critical in New York — the cherished home to more Jews than any place outside of Israel — where antisemitic incidents reached a record high last year, the highest in the country.”
“My friends, Theodor Herzl’s story is not just a relic of the past,” she stated. “That is the spirit I see present tonight — the spirit that established Israel, the spirit that has always driven the Jewish people, and the spirit that will rescue New York.”
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The award follows billionaire philanthropist Miriam Adelson’s expression of support for Rep. Elise Stefanik’s candidacy for New York governor at the Zionist Organization of America’s Justice Louis D. Brandeis Award Dinner.
Stefanik, who leads the House Republican Leadership, also received the Zionist Organization of America’s Mortimer Zuckerman Maccabee Warrior Award for her work to fight antisemitism.
In her introduction at the gala, Adelson praised Stefanik for challenging university administrators on antisemitism and recalled her late husband Sheldon Adelson’s emphasis on moral fortitude.
Adelson described Stefanik as “a great leader,” recognizing her for standing up for “the Jewish people, Israel and the Free World.”
Stefanik officially launched her widely anticipated Republican campaign for New York governor on Friday, entering the 2026 election to challenge Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Fox News Digital has contacted Hochul’s office for their response.
Stefanik, who at one time criticized President Donald Trump during his initial presidential campaign, has since become one of his most steadfast supporters in Congress.
Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
