by: Jonathan Greenblatt | January 09, 2018 JTA Several recent political measures in Israel — including announcements by Israel’s parliament, attorney general and ruling party — have significantly begun to undermine the possibility of achieving a two-state solution.
Let me be clear: When discussing why the peace process has been stalled for so many years, one has to begin with the Palestinians. There is little evidence to suggest that the Palestinians have yet made the…
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December 11, 2017 President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was widely condemned by Arab governments. Arabic-language media followed suit, and some outlets even used the historic declaration to propagate anti-Semitic cartoons relating to Jews, Jerusalem, and/or U.S.-Israel relations. In some instances, these cartoons suggest that Israel controls or dominates U.S. foreign policy, for example depicting U.S. President Donald Trump as a puppet operated by Israeli…
November 30, 2017 November 24 witnessed the deadliest terror attack in Egypt’s history when gunmen detonated explosives at a Sufi mosque in the Sinai Peninsula and then sprayed the worshippers with bullets, killing more than 300 people and wounding more than 100. While no organization claimed responsibility for the attack, it is thought to have been carried out by local militants affiliated with the Islamic State.
Sufism, a branch of Islam, is a minority regarded by the Islamic…
November 07, 2017 November 2, 2017 marked the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, a letter signed in 1917 by British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour expressing his country's support for the establishment of a national Jewish home in Palestine. While the UK and Israel celebrated the anniversary of this Declaration, which has become a symbol of international recognition of the Jewish right to self-determination, Palestinians and others have used the occasion to protest, and demand an…
by: Kenneth Jacobson | October 20, 2017 JTA Here we go again: The issue of how and why the United States should engage with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is back in the news.
The announcement by the Trump administration that the U.S. will be pulling out of UNESCO over its biased treatment of Israel is only the latest manifestation of a fraught relationship between America and this U.N. body.
Established soon after World War II as an effort to…
Survey Shows Majority of Israeli Public Believes Society Will Continue to be Divided Over Next 30 Years
Jerusalem, Israel, October 20, 2017 … Nearly two in three Israelis believe their society today is divided or very divided with a large majority – 75 percent – identifying political leadership as the largest contributor to the nation’s divisiveness, according to a new…
New York, NY, October 9, 2017 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called on the Executive Board of UNESCO to choose a new Director General “who best exemplifies and champions the values and ideals of the institution,” and who will be a strong and constructive voice against discrimination, including ongoing efforts to isolate and denigrate Israel, and who continues UNESCO’s important work on Holocaust education.
ADL expressed concern that the front runner after…
September 18, 2017 By: Marvin D. Nathan, National Chair
Jonathan A. Greenblatt, CEO & National Director
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is both a celebratory holiday and a time for serious introspection.
It is a celebration of the creation of the Universe and of G-d's sovereignty over that Universe. And, it is a time to look into oneself to examine where one has been and where one is going.
In this spirit, we offer on behalf of ADL, the…
What is the source of our free speech rights? Free speech rights emanate from the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution[1] and from state constitutions. The U.S. Constitution limits the government’s ability to regulate speech based on content and it applies to all public colleges and universities. It serves as a floor, not a ceiling. State constitutions may grant more robust free speech rights than the U.S. Constitution, but never fewer. Is there a distinction between private and…
July 26, 2017 The Arab-language media routinely features anti-Semitic cartoons suggesting that Israel is attempting to take over control of Muslim holy sites. In these depictions Israel is frequently portrayed as an octopus or snake which is taking over holy sites in Jerusalem such as the Temple Mount in bodily form. These cartoons stoke anti-Semitic sentiment in the Arab world.
This was no different after the recent attack by three Israeli Arab terrorists on the Temple Mount, which…
July 18, 2017 Introduction:
Following the July 14th attack on al-Aqsa mosque, during which three Israeli-Arab gunmen shot and killed two Israeli police officers, tensions mounted as police canceled Friday prayers at the mosque for the first time in nearly two decades. Many international terror groups issued statements praising the attack, denouncing the closure, and inciting further violence against Jewish people and institutions.
Further analysis showed an extraordinary amount of…
New York, NY, June 15, 2017 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today welcomed the Modern Language Association’s (MLA) ratification of a resolution saying the association will “refrain from endorsing the boycott” of Israeli academic institutions.
The resolution, which was passed by the MLA Delegate Assembly in January, was ratified by the MLA membership by a vote of 1954 to 885.
“The MLA’s vote to reject academic boycotts of Israel is a demonstration…
by: Kenneth Jacobson June 08, 2017 This blog originally appeared in The Times of Israel
As we remember the Six-Day War fifty years ago this week, there has already been much conversation about how to view that war decades later.
Yossi Klein-Halevi made a significant contribution to that discussion when he identified what he called the “May” Israelis and the “June” Israelis. The “May” Israelis are those whose memories focus on the days leading up to…
ADL reacted to an op-ed in The New York Times which "bears no resemblance to the complicated reality" between Israel and the Palestinians. Letters to the Editor
The New York Times
To the Editor:
Re “Israel’s Everlasting Occupation” (Sunday Review, June 4):
Nathan Thrall attributes to Israel an early determination to hold on to the territories. In fact, from the outset after the Six-Day War, Israel saw its winning territory as a perfect bargaining chip…
Urges Sec. General Guterres to Clarify Remarks New York, NY, June 5, 2017 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today expressed regret regarding what it called an “incomplete and misleading” statement issued by United Nations (U.N.) Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Six Day War.
In an official statement, the Secretary General focusses solely on the impact of the war on the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and Syrians in the…
by: Kenneth Jacobson May 17, 2017 This blog originally appeared in The Times of Israel
With the announcement of Donald Trump's first visit to Israel next week, it is useful to consider what would constitute a successful trip.
President Trump has been talking, in his inimitable way, about restarting peace negotiations and even solving this decades-old conflict that has confounded so many others.
In this respect, he is exhibiting similarities to other Presidents who looking out for…
Israel preemptively attacked Egypt on June 5, 1967. After a month of increasing regional tensions escalated by Egypt (spurred on by the Soviets) and failed diplomatic efforts to calm the situation, Israel’s leaders believed they had no choice but to strike first. Within hours, Jordan and Syrian forces attacked Israelis forces.
In May 1967, events in the region led Israel to expect that an Arab attack was imminent. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser had ordered a withdrawal of the…
Following the end of the Six Day War there was great debate within Israel about what to do with the territories gained during the war, which included East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights.
Some in Israel advocated an immediate withdrawal from the territories. Others supported a withdrawal only in exchange for peace with the surrounding Arab countries. And some, euphoric over the reunification of Jerusalem and control over Judaism’s…
by: Jonathan A. Greenblatt
Haaretz While there was anticipation in some quarters that Hamas’s announcement of a new charter would signal a change, it turns out it was much ado about nothing. Hamas remains a deeply anti-Semitic organization committed to the path of terror and to the denial of Israel’s right to exist. Its new charter does little to advance peace but does much to sustain conflict.
Ahead of the rumored changes, reports circulated that offered hope in…
ADL responds to an article in The New York Times titled "Hamas Tempers Extreme Stances in Bid for Power” which appeared on May 2, 2017. Letters to the Editor
The New York Times
To the Editor:
The story of a new Hamas statement of principles, with all the fuss and anticipation, is much ado about nothing. On the core of Hamas’s attitudes and policies toward Israel, nothing has changed.
For Hamas, there is only one legitimate authority in the Holy Land. Israel,…