Once the Shield of the Jewish People
For more than a century, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) stood as a sentinel against antisemitism. Founded in 1913, its mission was simple and unambiguous: to defend Jews from defamation, discrimination, and violence. The ADL built its reputation by exposing Nazi sympathizers in America, monitoring hate groups, and holding public figures accountable when they trafficked in anti-Semitic rhetoric.
Jews across the political spectrum once trusted the ADL as their watchdog. It wasn’t perfect, but it was resolute. If a politician used a slur, if a radical group incited hatred, if a violent threat emerged, the ADL could be counted on to confront it, loudly and without apology.
The Greenblatt Era: A Political Makeover
That clarity began to dissolve when Jonathan Greenblatt, a former Obama administration official, was installed as the ADL’s National Director in 2015. His appointment marked more than a routine leadership change. It imported a partisan, politically charged, and woke virus into an organization that had previously prided itself on independence.
Almost immediately, the ADL’s tone and focus began to shift. Instead of laser-focusing on antisemitism, the group broadened its agenda into the catch-all language of “fighting hate.” On the surface, this sounds admirable. But in practice, it has meant diverting resources away from defending Jews and pouring energy into progressive coalition-building, identity politics, and interfaith symbolism.
Mission Creep Disguised as “Solidarity”
Today’s ADL issues statements on everything from immigration to climate policy. It presents itself as a civil rights organization for all people, rather than a Jewish defense agency. This might win applause in certain elite progressive communist democrat circles, but it raises a blunt question: who, then, is left to defend Jews specifically?
When anti-Semitic incidents are folded into vague condemnations of “hate in all its forms,” the unique and stubborn reality of antisemitism gets blurred. This is not solidarity, it is mission creep. It represents a betrayal of the organization’s founding purpose.
Cozying Up to Islam, Ignoring Reality
Perhaps the most troubling example of this shift is the ADL’s outreach to Muslim advocacy groups. Greenblatt has repeatedly emphasized interfaith partnerships and public gestures of Muslim-Jewish solidarity. On paper, this looks virtuous. In reality, it is deeply contradictory.
The hard truth, one the ADL seems unwilling to confront, is that the single largest source of anti-Semitism in the world today is radical Islamist ideology, exported from the Middle East and echoed in Western diasporas. From Hamas propaganda to the sermons of extremist clerics, Jews remain a prime target. Yet instead of calling this out with clarity, the ADL seeks photo ops and alliances with Muslim organizations, some of which have their own history of hostility toward Israel and Jews.
What message does this send? To many Jews, it feels like appeasement, sacrificing honesty for the sake of political optics.
Antisemitism on the Rise, ADL Distracted
This transformation comes at a time when anti-Semitism is not a distant memory but a growing threat. In Europe, Jews face harassment and violence on the streets. In America, synagogues have been attacked, Jewish students are intimidated on campuses, and conspiracy theories circulate freely online.
In the face of this surge, one might expect the ADL to redouble its efforts on its core mission. Instead, under Greenblatt, it has chosen to dilute that mission, positioning itself as a progressive democrat advocacy group rather than the uncompromising defender of Jews.
The irony is bitter: when Jewish communities need a strong ADL most, they are left with a weakened, distracted, and politicized institution.
Alienating Its Own Base
By embracing a broad progressive agenda, the ADL has also alienated large segments of the Jewish community. Many Jews who do not share the political outlook of the Obama-era establishment feel abandoned. Once a unifying force, the ADL now looks like just another partisan progressive democrat nonprofit, one that happens to have Jewish origins.
The cost of this shift is credibility. The ADL was once trusted to call out anti-Semitism no matter where it came from, the right, the left, Christians, Muslims, or secular extremists. Today, critics charge that the ADL pulls its punches depending on the politics of the offender. The watchdog has become selective and, therefore, toothless.
Bottom Line: A Betrayal of the Founding Mission
The ADL’s leadership may claim that “fighting hate everywhere” is an evolution of its historic mission. But that is spin. The reality is that the ADL has abandoned its central purpose: defending Jews from anti-Semitism. The organization has traded clarity for confusion, independence for progressive partisanship, and truth-telling for political fashion.
Jews in America and abroad now face rising threats with fewer reliable allies. The ADL’s transformation is not progress, it is betrayal. And unless it rediscovers the courage to confront antisemitism directly, without hedging or pandering, its proud history will be remembered not for its triumphs, but for how it lost its way at the very moment it was needed most.
We are so screwed.
— Steve
