The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) was founded 112 years ago in order to “stop defamation of the Jewish people and secure justice and fair treatment for all.”
It fulfilled that noble purpose for decades and I was once proud to contribute to the organization. It fought antisemitism and defended Israel and did its best to stay out of divisive partisan politics.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Last week, the ADL posted the following on X (formerly Twitter): “We unequivocally condemn Pres. Trump’s issuance of 1,500 pardons and commuted sentences for Jan 6 insurrectionists, including leaders & members of extremist groups. This decision undermines accountability & risks reinvigorating violent extremists and other insurrectionists.”
I am not here to defend or condemn the actions of those who entered the Capitol four years ago. But even if I did, it would not be a problem, because I am an individual and not a legacy organization of the Jewish people.
The ADL has a responsibility to be a bipartisan representative of the Jewish people. It violated that responsibility with that post. Moreover, it has been violating that responsibility repeatedly under the leadership of Jonathan Greenblatt, who was an adviser to Barack Obama and does not hide his very left-wing views.
The ADL could have balanced its condemnation of President Trump’s pardons by singling out the inappropriate pardons of his predecessor, Joe Biden. It should have done neither.
The total assets of the ADL are a whopping $261,508,202, according to the Consolidated Financial Statements and Report of Independent Certified Public Accountants of June 2024 posted on the ADL’s website; Greenblatt’s salary is an enviable $1,251,732.
I ask you, ADL donors around the world: Are you really OK with this organization having that much money and using it to condemn the president of the United States?
Even if you hate Trump, is that a smart thing to do?
Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg may also hate Trump. Do you see him condemning a new president? No, he is a smart enough businessman to instead attend Trump’s inauguration, meet with him, and change his company’s policies to reflect the new reality in the US.
Why is Greenblatt not that smart? Don’t the contributors to ADL deserve better leadership?
Greenblatt also failed to prepare his organization and American Jews for what happened in the US since October 7, 2023. Immediately after the horrible attacks of that day, I asked questions in the Jerusalem Post:
Were American Jewish leaders not caught similarly off guard by a dangerous situation that had been bubbling beneath the surface that they had been ignoring for too long, with disastrous results?
Could nothing have been done to prevent the startling rise of antisemitism? Could the scary situation on American college campuses not have been averted?
“The Anti-Defamation League in particular must reconsider their priorities, programming, and alliances,” I wrote. “Did they veer too much away from helping American Jews in need in order to adopt universal causes? Did they go too far in criticizing Israel for its internal policies and proposals that only showed the vibrancy of Israeli democracy?”
The behavior of the ADL since then has only made me more concerned.
For the good of the Jewish people and the good of the ADL, an immediate restructuring is required.
