Washington Governor Jay Inslee responded this week to a letter from Jewish Federations leaders who called for immediate action following an antisemitic incident at University of Washington recently. 
 
At a board of regents meeting, anti-Israel protesters shouted down a series of speakers who had come to testify about antisemitism and the experience Jewish students face on campus. The speakers included Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle CEO Solomon Kane.
 
 
"His remarks were met with one of the most vile, outrageous displays of antisemitism to be witnessed at a public meeting in the United States of America in recent memory," Jewish Federations of North America Chair Julie Platt and President and CEO Eric D. Fingerhut wrote Inslee. 
 
"To make matters worse, the board, a public body duly chartered by the State of Washington, did nothing to remove the disrupters, but instead chose to adjourn the meeting rather than to ensure the right of this speaker and the others who had planned to speak to proceed. The board has so far taken no legal or disciplinary action against the disrupters," they added, noting that Kane had to be escorted from the premises for his physical safety. 
 
Platt and Fingerhut, who said the incident was a "stain" on the reputations of both the State of Washington and the University of Washington, called for the Jewish community of Seattle to receive an appropriate apology, for the perpetrators to be punished, and for the Jewish community's concerns about antisemitism to be heard and considered by the state and university. 
 
This week, Inslee responded to Federations leader with a letter which read, in part:  
 
“Prior to receiving your letter, I spoke with members of the Board of Regents. In those conversations, I stressed that the public’s expectation, as well as my own, is that the university ensures adequate security so that all speakers may be heard and that all meetings can be held in a safe and orderly fashion. 
 
Public meetings are an essential democratic tradition, and disrupting such a meeting with fear and intimidation is an attempt to undermine our democracy. This incident must not be repeated.”