283 Results

Yom Haatzmaut Reflection: A Year of Anniversaries All Adding Up to 69

Article

May 01, 2017 By Susan Heller Pinto Associate Director of International Affairs and Director of Middle Eastern Affairs at the Anti-Defamation League This blog originally appeared in The Times of Israel I feel like I have spent the better part of 2017 in meetings discussing and planning for portentous anniversaries in the history of Zionism and Israel. This year, after all, marks the 120th anniversary of the First Zionist Congress (August 1897); the centennial year of the Balfour…

May 01, 2017

ADL Calls Out “Pure Fabrication” in Barghouti Op-Ed in The New York Times

Media Watch

ADL letter to the public editor concerning convicted Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti. Letters to the Editor The New York Times To the Public Editor: We appreciate your comments about the Times failure with regard to the article by Marwan Barghouti. Unfortunately, it did not go far enough nor did the newspaper's clarification. Yes, Mr. Barghouti was not merely a Palestinian parliamentarian. He was convicted of murder by an Israeli court. Also important…

April 28, 2017

ADL Congratulates David Friedman on His Confirmation as U.S. Ambassador to Israel

Press Release

New York, NY, March 24, 2017 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today congratulated David Friedman on his confirmation to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to Israel. ADL said it was looking forward to working with the new ambassador, and expressed hope that, going forward, Friedman would account for and respect the diversity of pro-Israel views throughout the Jewish community and broader American public. Marvin D. Nathan, ADL National Chair, and Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO,…

March 24, 2017

Can a Feminist be a Zionist? Yes!

Media Watch

This letter was written in response to an article that appeared in The Nation regarding zionism and feminism. Letters to the Editor The Nation To the Editor: My parents came to Israel from Morocco, a country where Jews and Muslims lived together in harmony for centuries. They instilled in me and my siblings a loving humanism that demands we treat people of different race, gender, and religion with equal respect. As an Israeli woman, I inhabit multiple identities…

March 22, 2017

ADL Concerned at Draft Knesset Bills Limiting Volume on Muslim Call to Prayer

Press Release

Jerusalem, March 7, 2017 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today expressed concern over two draft bills aimed at limiting the volume of speakers in places of worship approved in a preliminary reading by the Knesset. “The call to prayer is of great religious significance to Muslims and is not just a technical issue,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “Since the establishment of the State of Israel, mosques have been free to broadcast the call to prayer. Given…

March 10, 2017

ADL Condemns U.S. Failure to Veto Biased Security Council Resolution Against Israel

Press Release

New York, NY, December 23, 2016...The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today condemned the passage of a United Nations Security Council resolution that holds Israel and its settlement policy “in the West Bank and East Jerusalem” responsible for the lack of progress on Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. ADL stated that it was outraged with the U.S. failure to veto this “biased and unconstructive” resolution, which only further complicates efforts to renew trust and restart…

December 23, 2016

ADL Calls on the U.S. to Veto One-Sided U.N. Security Council Resolution Holding Israel Responsible For Lack of Progress

Press Release

New York, NY, December 22, 2016...The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called on the United States to veto a one-sided resolution expected to be voted on in the Security Council later today that holds Israel and its settlement policy “in the West Bank and East Jerusalem” responsible for the lack of progress in Israeli-Palestinian negotiation. The draft resolution, which is to be introduced by Egypt, names Israeli policies specifically as being responsible for “imperiling the…

December 22, 2016

Kotel Tensions Demonstrate Need to Ensure Right of Every Jew to Pray in His Or Her Own Way, ADL Says

Press Release

New York, NY, November 2, 2016 … Reacting to tensions today at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called for the implementation of the January 2016 agreement by the Israeli cabinet to establish a permanent and official space for mixed gender prayer at Judaism’s holiest site. “The tension demonstrates yet again the urgent need to establish the egalitarian prayer space at the Kotel, to which the Israeli government is committed,” said…

November 02, 2016

ADL Says UNESCO “Manufactures History” with False Depiction of Jerusalem and Holy Sites

Press Release

New York, NY, October 26, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today condemned the UNESCO World Heritage Committee for “manufacturing history” with yet another resolution seeking to erase the Jewish connection to Jerusalem and the holy sites. The resolution, entitled “Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls,” also included a long litany of biased accusations against Israel. The resolution was voted on and approved by secret ballot, with 10 voting in favor,…

October 26, 2016

ADL: UNESCO Vote Expunges 3,000 Years of Jewish Connection to Jerusalem

Press Release

New York, NY, October 13, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) condemned yet another in a series of resolutions passed today by the UNESCO Executive Board, which, it said, “essentially expunges the 3,000 years of Jewish connection to Jerusalem.” Similar resolutions have been adopted by UNESCO political bodies in the past. The resolution passed today continued to refer to the Temple Mount/Holy Sanctuary solely by its Islamic name, Haram al Sharif, and referred to…

October 13, 2016

ADL Mourns the Passing of Shimon Peres

Press Release

New York, NY, September 27, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today mourned the passing of Israel’s longest serving and most prominent leader and statesman, former President and Prime Minister Shimon Peres. Marvin D. Nathan, ADL National Chair, and Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO, issued the following statement: Literally present at the creation of the Jewish state, Shimon Peres was the diplomatic, political and social innovation face of Israel over a seven decade…

September 27, 2016

The Abbas Approach Explains the Failure to Make Peace

News

by: Jonathan A. Greenblatt | September 23, 2016 JTA Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ statement before the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday revived old hatreds more than it broke new ground. It was little more than a rote diatribe against Israel and a call for international pressure to coerce the Jewish state in place of the hard give and take that happens at the negotiating table. It shed light on why the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has endured so long through…

September 23, 2016

Letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on His Strong UN Address

Letter

September 23, 2016 Benjamin Netanyahu Office of the Prime Minister Jerusalem, Israel Dear Mr. Prime Minister: We are writing to congratulate you on your stirring and effective address to the United Nations General Assembly. Your call to President Mahmoud Abbas to meet you in person and to address the Knesset, your condemnation of the heinous terrorist attack in Duma and your words of empathy for the Dawabsha family, along with your expression of hope for peace,…

September 23, 2016

The Palestinians Are Not ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ Jewish Settlers

News

by: Jonathan A. Greenblatt | September 13, 2016 Foreign Policy If Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s purpose was to criticize the Palestinian leadership, there are many issues he could have raised in his latest short video posted on Sept. 9. He could have spoken about their celebration of terrorists, or he could have raised their demonization of Israel through anti-Semitic conspiracy theories or their repeated rejection of any Jewish connection to the Land of Israel. He could…

September 13, 2016

ADL Hails U.S.-Israel Military Aid Memorandum of Understanding

Press Release

New York, NY, September 13, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today hailed the announcement of a military aid agreement between Israel and the United States, calling it “a resounding and tangible” demonstration of the enduring U.S.-Israel relationship. The new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) provides Israel with the largest defense aid package in American history - $38 billion over the next decade. The existing aid agreement expires in 2018. The agreement…

September 13, 2016

ADL: The Mikvah Law Misuses State-Funded Facilities to Discriminate Against Non-Orthodox Jews

Press Release

Jerusalem, July 27, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today strongly condemned passage in the Knesset of the “mikvah law,” which bars the ritual immersion of converts by non-Orthodox rabbis in public mikvahs (ritual baths), saying that it is using a state-funded facilities to discriminate. Immersion in the mikvah is the final step in the process of converting to Judaism. The law, initiated by MK Moshe Gafni, strives to override the Israeli Supreme Court…

July 27, 2016

ADL Welcomes UNESCO Director’s Condemnation of Attempts to Deny Jewish Connection to Jerusalem

Press Release

New York, NY, July 15, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) welcomed today’s statement by UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, who condemned attempts to deny the Jewish connection to Jerusalem. At UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, currently meeting in Istanbul, a draft resolution on the Old City of Jerusalem is being negotiated. A similar resolution in April by UNESCO’s Executive Board condemned Israel for alleged “Jewish fake graves” on the Temple…

July 15, 2016

ADL Strongly Condemns Rejection of Prominent New York Rabbi by Israel’s Supreme Rabbinical Court

Press Release

New York, NY, July 14, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today strongly condemned the decision by Israel’s Supreme Rabbinical court to reject the authority of prominent New York Orthodox Rabbi Haskel Lookstein by invalidating his conversion of an American woman to Judaism. ADL called the court’s decision a “slap in the face” to American Jewry, including those who have chosen to join the Jewish people, and said it highlights just how extreme the Israeli…

July 14, 2016

The Iran Nuclear Deal: One Year Later

Article

by: Jonathan Greenblatt July 07, 2016 This blog originally appeared in Medium. As we approach the first anniversary of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) it is an appropriate time to reassess the merits of the deal. ADL was among the nuclear deal’s critics. Beyond the nuclear restraints it would impose on Iran, our concern is that it would normalize an expansionist, militant regime whose unrepentant and fundamentalist ideology was not tamed by the deal. Unlike…

July 07, 2016

In Wake of Brutal Murder of Israeli Teen, ADL Calls On World Leaders to Denounce Palestinian Incitement

Press Release

New York, NY, June 30, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today expressed horror and outrage over the brutal murder of a 13-year-old Israeli girl by a 17-year-old Palestinian terrorist. Hallel Ariel was stabbed to death by the terrorist, who entered her bedroom in the settlement of Kiryat Arba earlier today. The attacker, who was shot and killed by a security guard, had reportedly posted on social media of his intentions to be a martyr. “This tragic attack on an…

June 30, 2016