The ADL needs to reconsider its positions

(JNS) — The Anti-Defamation League was founded 111 years ago 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.

On Jan. 20, the ADL posted the following on X: “We unequivocally condemn Pres. Trump’s issuance of 1,500 pardons and commuted sentences for Jan 6 insurrectionists, including leaders and members of extremist groups. This decision undermines accountability and 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. Even if I did, it wouldn’t be a problem since I am an individual. I am 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. It has been violating that responsibility repeatedly under the leadership of Jonathan Greenblatt, who was an adviser to then-President Barack Obama and does not hide his left-wing views.

The ADL could have balanced its condemnation of President Donald Trump’s pardons by singling out the inappropriate pardons of his predecessor, President 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 $1.2 million.

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 alter his company’s policies to reflect the new reality in America.

Greenblatt also failed to prepare his organization and American Jewry for the rise in antisemitism in the United States since Oct. 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? Could anything 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.

Greenblatt was likely pandering to ADL’s board of directors, which has, unfortunately, shifted leftward. But that is no excuse because most Americans, including the president, do not differentiate between Jewish organizations. Accordingly, he is doing the broader Jewish community a massive disservice.