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…
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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…
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…
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…
New York, NY, July 5, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today joined a friend-of-the court brief to the U.S. Supreme Court defending a Missouri constitutional provision that provides broader separation of church and state than the U.S. Constitution.
In the case titled, Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Parker, the State denied direct grants to houses of worship under this provision.
“The petitioner is seeking an unprecedented ruling from the Court that…
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…
New York, NY, June 29, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today praised the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) draft platform for affirming America’s “longstanding commitment to Israel’s security, to Israel’s existence as a Jewish, democratic state,” the pursuit of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and for breaking new ground in opposing the BDS movement.
The platform draft breaks important new ground in…
New York, NY, June 27, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today hailed the Supreme Court’s historic 5-3 decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, which struck down a Texas anti-abortion law. The law, HB2, would have effectively barred many women, particularly women in poverty and women of color, from exercising their constitutional right to an abortion. “The court’s decision appropriately recognizes the real-life impact of HB2 on access to…
New York, NY, June 27, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today welcomed the announcement of an agreement between Israel and Turkey that will restore full diplomatic relations and renew the economic, military and political cooperation the two countries have long enjoyed. “The restoration of Israeli-Turkish relations is a significant and welcome achievement, not just for these two long-time allies, but as a marker of regional cooperation and stability,” said Jonathan A…
Expresses Disappointment for Church’s Endorsement of Report Calling for Alternatives to Two State Solution New York, NY, June 27, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) expressed disappointment at a number of problematic Israel-focused motions endorsed last week by the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly, including a report calling on the church to explore alternatives to the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and an overture advocating the church study…
May 27, 2016 In April, ADL sent a letter to G4S recognizing its public statement that its decision to sell its business in Israel was unrelated to pressures from BDS campaigns. In the public statement, G4S said it “reiterates that it does not support the anti-Israel boycott by BDS or any other group.”
This letter was sent following consultation with sources, including in Israel, who indicated that BDS has not been a motivating factor in G4S’s decision. Our…
Urges Quick Resolution by Lower Courts Washington, D.C., May 16, 2015 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today expressed disappointment with the U.S. Supreme Court’s sidestepping on the legality of the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate opt-out provision for religiously affiliated groups.
This provision both accommodates religiously affiliated employers and ensures their female employees have access to no-cost prescription contraception insurance coverage…
Says Town’s Rejection of Mosque Construction “Troubling” and “Simply Unacceptable” New York, NY, May 11, 2016 … The Interfaith Coalition on Mosques (ICOM) today joined a friend-of-the court brief filed on behalf of a coalition of civil rights and interfaith organizations in support of The Islamic Society of Basking Ridge (ISBR). Filed with a federal court in New Jersey, the brief asserts that the Township of Bernards discriminatorily denied the congregation…
Jerusalem, May 4, 2016 … On the occasion of the publication of the Hebrew version of former Israeli Ambassador and current Knesset Member Michael Oren’s book, “Ally: My Journey Across the American Israeli Divide,” the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) congratulated Mr. Oren on this milestone and took the opportunity to put to rest a controversy that arose surrounding the book’s original publication last year.
Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO, issued the…
New York, NY, April 19, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today condemned the bombing of a Jerusalem city bus which injured over 20 people, two of them seriously. “We deplore the horrific attack in Jerusalem, the first bus bombing in a long period of time, and an act of terror that brings back nightmares for many in Israel,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO, and Carole Nuriel, Acting Director of ADL’s Israel Office. “Violence directed at civilians is…
New York, NY, April 18, 2016… The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called on the United States to take a strong stand against Palestinian Authority efforts to present a one-sided resolution harshly critical of Israel at the Security Council, saying it would in no way advance Israeli-Palestinian bilateral negotiations. In a letter to Samantha Power, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, ADL stressed that the U.S. should object to the resolution because it is both one-sided…
New York, NY, April 7, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today welcomed the clarification by presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders of his misstatement about Palestinian casualties during the 2014 conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas. After a phone conversation between the senator and ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt, Senator Sanders issued a statement clarifying that his recollection that there were 10,000 civilian Palestinian civilian deaths was inaccurate and…
New York, NY, April 6, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called on presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders to correct his misstatements regarding the 2014 conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas. In an interview with the editorial board of the New York Daily News, Senator Sanders said, “I believe 100 percent not only in Israel's right to exist, a right to exist in peace and security without having to face terrorist attacks.” But he then called…
Jerusalem, March 28, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today strongly condemned Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, for stating that “non-Jews shouldn’t live in the land of Israel.” In a recording of Yosef’s weekly Saturday night lecture, the rabbi can be heard saying, “If our hand were firm, if we had the power to rule, then non-Jews must not live in Israel. But, our hand is not firm.” He added that the only reason non…
New York, NY, January 31, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today welcomed the decision by Israel’s cabinet to establish a permanent and official space at the Western Wall for mixed gender prayer at Judaism’s holiest site. The cabinet voted 15-5 to approve the long-negotiated plan to enable non-Orthodox Jews to perform services in their own manner, including egalitarian male-female prayer services, or all women prayer groups with women chanting the prayers and reading…