ADL’s Abe Foxman said he’s “outraged” at last week’s decision by the Israel Broadcasting Authority to bar Israel’s contestant in the international Eurovision music contest from wearing a dress by designer John Galliano.
Galliano lost his job as the top designer at Christian Dior two years ago after being arrested for making anti-Semitic statements at a Paris bar, but Foxman said he is now a “changed man.”
“I am outraged and embarrassed that an entity representing Israel would reject Mr. Galliano,” Foxman said. “To reject someone who has now embraced Israel and the Jewish people is outrageous. This is not the lesson that you give your children. Rejecting someone who gave a sincere apology is not Jewish tradition. We are a people that forgive and this is not the way to overcome bigotry.
“Mr. Galliano is a changed man.”