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EXCLUSIVE: Federal judges will address anti-Semitism at an annual convention next week, joining a rare multi-judge panel in a forum typically reserved for one-person lectures, Fox News Digital has learned.
U.S. District Judge Roy Altman, who is presiding over the hearing, said the panel was “unprecedented” and a necessary change to address what he said was a surge in anti-Semitism following a 2023 terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas. The panel is part of the Federalist Society’s annual national bar convention.
“This conversation about faith, understanding and moral responsibility could not be more timely,” Altman said. “It reflects the importance of the moment, the endurance of Western values and Judge (Robert) Bork’s enduring belief in moral clarity and the power that comes from open dialogue.”
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Pro-Israel protesters gather to denounce anti-Semitism and demand the release of Israeli hostages on the National Mall in Washington, DC on November 14, 2023. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
For years, the event has been named after the late Bork, who, incidentally, once helped crack down on the law firm’s avoidance of hiring Jewish lawyers, according to a 1987 testimony by Senate colleagues.
Among the judges participating in the debate are seven Trump appointees, including Altman, one appointee of former President George W. Bush and a Texas Supreme Court justice.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Altman, a Jewish judge who lives in South Florida, said he has also arranged numerous trips for federal judges of different faiths to visit Israel since the Oct. 7 attack.
He said that while his personal discussions about Israel were largely focused on campuses, it “became clear” to him that the judiciary needed to intervene because the heated debate surrounding the topic involved legal issues.
Anti-Israel protesters gather in Washington Square Park in New York on May 3, 2024. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
The deadly Israeli attack reignited the conflict in Gaza and led to nationwide anti-Israel protests, particularly on American college campuses. Protesters claimed Israel was killing thousands of innocent Palestinians in Gaza indiscriminately, while the Israeli government said it gave fair warning of its attack and that it targeted Hamas terrorists.
“These claims, is Israel violating the laws of war? Is it an apartheid state? Is it occupying land that does not belong to it?” Altman said. “These are just legal questions with legal answers, and I thought who better than federal judges to understand the applicable rule of law, present and determine what the relevant facts are, and then apply the facts to the law and render a judgment than a federal judge.”
Some of the judges participating in the panel have been on Altman’s trips to Israel.
The Federalist Society announced that the judges plan to speak about their personal experiences in speaking with people of other faiths about anti-Jewish sentiments. They also plan to address First Amendment concerns related to anti-Semitism.
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President Donald Trump addresses the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, on October 13, 2025 in Jerusalem. (Evelyn Hockstein/Getty Images)
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The debate comes as the Trump administration has aggressively targeted speech by non-citizens that it has argued in court conflicts with its national security posture for being overly critical of Israel and possibly supporting Hamas.
Free speech advocates have warned that offensive and politically charged speech is protected by the constitution. In the case of Mahmoud Khalil, which has become a flashpoint for these debates, courts have examined the extent to which noncitizens enjoy First Amendment protection.
Altman said he has seen a bias in the opposite direction on campuses, and that pro-Israel expression has been stifled. Just this year, New York University canceled a speech by Jewish legal scholar Ilya Shaprio due to the security risk posed by the protesters.
“I was honestly shocked to find that so many young people in our country, especially on our college campuses, had a completely wrong view of the one Jewish state in the world and its role in the Middle East and its history and how it came to be, and it also became clear that the conversation on campus was not really a conversation because it was only telling one side of the story,” Altman said.