Politics / November 1, 2024

Let’s Call the ADL What It Is: an Ally of Fascists

The group’s pathetic response to Trump’s hate rally proved once and for all that it is no friend to anyone fighting bigotry, antisemitism, or far-right extremism.

Eva Borgwardt
Jonathan Greenblatt participates in the "Building Coalitions to Fight Hate" panel during the TAAF Heritage Month Summit at The Glasshouse on May 05, 2023 in New York City.

Jonathan Greenblatt participates in the “Building Coalitions to Fight Hate” panel during the TAAF Heritage Month Summit at The Glasshouse on May 5, 2023, in New York City.

(JP Yim / Getty Images for The Asian American Foundation)

Donald Trump’s fascistic rally at Madison Square Garden last weekend would seem to be the exact kind of thing a so-called leading civil rights group, particularly one that purports to fight antisemitism, would condemn wholeheartedly.

The event came soon after reports that Trump had expressed a longing for “the kind of generals Hitler had.” It was held in the same exact venue as an infamous Nazi rally 85 years ago. It was a campaign stop for a party hell-bent on enacting Project 2025, a blueprint for fascist repression of and violence toward Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Black, brown, immigrant, and queer and trans Americans. It coincided with the anniversary of the massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue, when a white supremacist inspired by Trump’s racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories carried out the most deadly act of mass violence against Jews in US history.

And even if none of those things had been the case, the racist, anti-Black, anti–Puerto Rican, antisemitic, anti-Palestinian, and misogynistic vitriol spewed by Trump and his allies at the rally should have appalled any group professing to stand up for basic human rights.

As Jews, we at IfNotNow know a Nazi rally when we see one, and so we followed what we see as the obligation of our heritage by showing up this past weekend to protest the gathering, alongside comrades from a variety of movements for peace, justice, and liberation.

But one group was conspicuously muted: the Anti-Defamation League, which calls itself “the leading anti-hate organization in the world” and which, historically, was regarded by many as the United States’ most important and respected voice in opposition to antisemitism. The ADL wouldn’t even condemn Trump by name, instead offering abstract criticism of “offensive jokes” at “political rallies.”

This response—or lack thereof—should have been surprising. But it’s merely the latest evidence that the ADL has completely abandoned the civil rights part of its mission, which has long been in tension with its Israel advocacy—a contradiction that movements have pointed out for years. These days, the organization, under CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, appears to have one primary objective: demonizing those of us in the movement for Palestinian human rights.

Current Issue

Cover of April 2025 Issue

Neither the ADL nor Greenblatt saw fit to offer so much as a word of denunciation for Trump’s praise of Hitler’s generals. When President Trump said he would blame American Jews if Harris wins the election, the ADL stumbled over itself to laud Trump before offering a mealy-mouthed critique of the former president’s phrasing. In recent years, Greenblatt has praised Elon Musk, given an award to Jared Kushner, and continued to insist that students on college campuses are just as big a threat as torch-carrying white nationalists.

To be clear, the ADL is far from alone in this regard. Many center-right and right-wing organizations have long chosen to stay silent about, or even join forces with, MAGA extremists because of their alignment over Israel. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has welcomed Trump—and his top donors—with open arms, while refusing to condemn his blatantly antisemitic remarks. A review of recent press releases by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations shows none containing condemnations of Trump’s antisemitism. The group did see fit to call out even the most milquetoast critiques of the Israeli government by public figures like Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, as well as attack those who dare to speak out against the Gaza genocide.

It is time to firmly count the ADL among these groups.

Are the ADL and others of its ilk simply scared to stand up to Trump, who has already made it known that, should he lose, he intends to blame Jews? Are they cynically eager to curry favor with a candidate they predict will win in November, notwithstanding his neo-Nazi proclivities? Or, perhaps worst of all, do they actually welcome fascist praise, just so long as it doesn’t come with criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies? Whatever the explanation, it is clear that these organizations have completely abandoned the cause of safety for US Jews, right when we need it most—with a fascist within striking distance of once again assuming the presidency, having largely escaped punishment for launching a coup attempt.

This is the horrible result of the decades-long move by the ADL and other groups to place the defense of Israel at the center of Jewish American life—even as Israel’s government maintains and expands an apartheid system of legal, economic, and military domination over the Palestinians. As we can plainly see, not only does this not make Jews safe but it puts them in greater danger—in Israel, the United States, and all over the world.

The Nation Weekly

Fridays. A weekly digest of the best of our coverage.
By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You may unsubscribe or adjust your preferences at any time. You can read our Privacy Policy here.

That’s why we recognize that Jews can be truly safe only in a world where all of us can live free from violence and repression. Shared safety means safety for Black and Indigenous people, people of color, queer and trans people, immigrants, Muslims, communities on the front lines of the climate crisis, those whose reproductive rights are under attack, and all others targeted by Trump and his far-right allies. And it means safety for Palestinians—specifically, an end to the flow of US-produced and -funded weapons to the Israeli military, an end to the genocide in Gaza, and an end to the apartheid system oppressing Palestinians.

The ADL, by contrast, has undermined its own reputation by seeking approval from Trump and his fascist friends. Wikipedia editors have stopped citing the ADL as a credible source on antisemitism. A Biden administration official told a reporter, “What’s the point of the ADL if you’re not going to condemn this when it happens?”

As Greenblatt continues to cozy up to the MAGA movement while attacking college students and anti-war activists—many of whom are Jewish—the ADL is increasingly seen for what it is: a laundry service for the reputation of Benjamin Netanyahu and his fascist associates. Anyone committed to fighting antisemitism, fascism, and bigotry should, once and for all, stop partnering with the ADL or looking to it for guidance.

The fight against fascism should be supported by well-resourced organizations like the ADL, not just by a ragtag coalition of movements and organizations with a collective tenth of its budget. And yet, with the ADL having abandoned its ostensible reason for being, it is groups like IfNotNow filling the gap, advancing a credible analysis of antisemitism based on the fundamental reality that Jewish and Palestinian safety are intertwined. On the eve of a potential Trump presidency, and as Netanyahu escalates genocide in Gaza and the West Bank and fuels regional war in the Middle East, we invite our community to join us—to have a reckoning, wrestle with some hard questions, and fight together for safety, freedom, and a thriving future for all.

Eva Borgwardt

Eva Borgwardt is the national spokesperson for IfNotNow.

More from The Nation

A protest in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, New York, on Saturday, March 29, 2025.

You Don’t Get Trump Without Gaza You Don’t Get Trump Without Gaza

Fascism doesn’t just appear. It must be invited in—and the bipartisan repression of the anti-genocide movement did just that.

Ben Ehrenreich

Senator Cory Booker speaks on the Senate floor on April 1, 2025. The New Jersey senator broke the record for the longest Senate floor speech by holding the floor for more than 25 hours.

Cory Booker Makes History. Donald Trump Will Never Erase It. Cory Booker Makes History. Donald Trump Will Never Erase It.

The New Jersey senator broke Strom Thurmond’s record for speaking on the Senate floor. May Booker break the back of the neo-segregationism that Trump represents.

Joan Walsh

Danger!

Danger! Danger!

Activism for life.

OppArt / Alessandra Mondolfi

Susan Crawford accepts victory in her race for Wisconsin Supreme Court justice on April 1, 2025, in Madison, Wisconsin.

Democracy 1, Elon Musk 0 Democracy 1, Elon Musk 0

The richest man in the world attempted to buy an election in Wisconsin. His effort crashed and burned, establishing a model for the fight against Trumpism.

John Nichols

US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem (C), alongside Minister of Justice and Public Security Gustavo Villatoro (R), tours the Terrorist Confinement Center (CECOT) in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on March 26, 2025.

How Trump Is Outsourcing His Mass Deportation Agenda How Trump Is Outsourcing His Mass Deportation Agenda

The government is enlisting—or coercing—other countries into joining its efforts to purge immigrants from the United States.

Felipe de la Hoz

Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., wears a cheese head hat during an America PAC town hall ahead of the Wisconsin Supreme Court election at the KI Convention Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin, US, on Sunday, March 30, 2025.

The World’s Richest Man Wants Wisconsin to Give Up on Democracy The World’s Richest Man Wants Wisconsin to Give Up on Democracy

Elon Musk is spending tens of millions of dollars to block free and fair elections in the battleground state.

John Nichols