Focus on anti-Zionists, threats to Orthodox Jews
His speech last year drew criticism from the left for marginalising parts of the Jewish community that criticise Israel, and for equating that sector with a stream of extremism...
In a major policy speech last Monday, Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO Jonathan Greenblatt doubled down that anti-Zionism is antisemitism, emphasised the threat to visibly Orthodox Jews and accused The New York Times of an “antisemitic attack” in its coverage of Chassidic movements.
“I know that for bigots – especially those who self-style as ‘anti-Zionists’ – Israel’s Independence Day is a day to redouble their efforts to make sure it is Israel’s last Independence Day,” he said, adding, “To underscore what I said at this event last year: Anti-Zionism is antisemitism. Full stop.”
His speech last year drew criticism from the left for marginalising parts of the Jewish community that criticise Israel, and for equating that sector with a stream of extremism on the other end of the political spectrum that has fuelled deadly attacks on Jews.
Greenblatt emphasised in his speech that antisemitism knows no single ideological home. He noted what the ADL has documented as an alarming spike in antisemitic attacks, and that more than half of violent attacks have targeted visibly Orthodox Jews.
“This year, we find that the dramatic increase in antisemitic incidents is not due to any single ideology fuelling violence, or one group becoming more accepting of antisemitism than another,” he said. “It’s due to every ideology becoming more comfortable with anti-Jewish hate.”
Since he took the ADL’s helm in 2015, Greenblatt has been under fire from conservatives for the organisation’s emphasis on threats emerging from the extreme right, though it has always focused on far-right antisemitism. Last Monday’s speech touched almost exclusively on themes that have troubled Jewish conservatives: the perceived threat to pro-Israel Jews on campuses, attacks on visibly Orthodox Jews, and defending ultra-Orthodox Jews from perceived attacks on their lifestyles and education system.
Greenblatt took The New York Times to task for its series of articles reporting on deficiencies and malfeasance in Chassidic schools in New York.
“Our Orthodox brothers and sisters are constantly under threat,” he said. “It is one that needs solidarity and support from everyone – Jewish and non-Jewish alike. So to see this community singled out by elite institutions, like The New York Times, arguably the most important paper in the world, depicting them as clannish and using power to manipulate events … that represents an antisemitic attack on their community.”
Absent from his speech was any mention of former US president Donald Trump, although he is seen as the leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 and has intensified his attacks on “globalists” and on progressive Jewish billionaire George Soros, tropes that the ADL and other groups have said fuel antisemitism.
The speech also barely mentioned what has, for years, been the ADL’s focus: the threat from the far right spurred in part by Trump’s ascendance.
Greenblatt omitted any mention of rapper Ye while speaking about the ADL’s work with corporations, even though the ADL led a campaign last year urging Adidas to end its partnership with Ye.
Greenblatt began his speech by celebrating Israel on the occasion of its 75th birthday, despite what he acknowledged as “complexity, worry, anxiety and concern” about the country’s future.
He called the protests over the government’s effort to weaken the judiciary “something really special”, and “the triumph of Zionism”. He urged compromise on the judicial overhaul.
“There are challenges in Israel right now – and there will be challenges and difficult conversations to come, but ADL will never waver in its support of a democratic, Jewish state,” Greenblatt said.
“Israel is a miracle, and I will never apologise for being a proud Zionist.”
JTA
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