View source for Anti-Defamation League

{{Short description|International Jewish organization}}
{{Other uses}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Anti-Defamation League
| image = ADL logo (2018) cropped.svg
| size = 175px
| formation = {{start date and age|1913|09}}
| founder = [[Sigmund Livingston]]
| status = [[501(c)(3) organization]]
| headquarters = {{nowrap|[[New York City]], U.S.}}
| type = [[Civil rights]] advocacy group
| tax_id = 13-1818723 ([[Employer Identification Number|EIN]])<ref name="ProPublica-2013">{{Cite web|title=Anti Defamation League – Nonprofit Explorer|url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/131818723|access-date=April 9, 2021|website=[[ProPublica]]|date=May 9, 2013|archive-date=November 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114203722/https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/131818723|url-status=live}}</ref>
| leader_title = Chair
| leader_name = Ben Sax
| leader_title2 = CEO
| leader_name2 = [[Jonathan Greenblatt]]
| revenue = $38.3 million<ref name="ProPublica-2013"/>
| revenue_year = 2023
| expenses = $57.9 million<ref name="ProPublica-2013"/>
| expenses_year = 2023
| endowment = $67.1 million<ref name="ProPublica-2013"/>
| endowment_year = 2023
| staff = 
| staff_year = 
| volunteers = 
| volunteers_year = 
| website = {{URL|https://adl.org}}
| formerly = Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith
}}
{{Antisemitism|Opposition}}
The '''Anti-Defamation League''' ('''ADL'''), formerly known as the '''Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith''',{{efn|The ADL became independent of B'nai B'rith and shortened its name in 2009.<ref name="Amistad Research Center">{{cite web |url=https://amistad-finding-aids.tulane.edu/agents/corporate_entities/411 |title=B'nai B'rith. Anti-defamation League |work=[[Amistad Research Center]] |access-date=9 September 2023 |archive-date=September 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230913011312/https://amistad-finding-aids.tulane.edu/agents/corporate_entities/411 |url-status=live }}</ref>}} is a New York-based international [[non-governmental organization]] that was founded to combat [[antisemitism]], as well as other forms of [[Prejudice|bigotry]] and [[discrimination]].<ref name="Golembeski-2023" /> The ADL is also known for its [[pro-Israel]] advocacy.<ref>{{cite book |author=Craig, K. M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n1E8LAg40pwC |title=Crimes of Hate: Selected Readings |date=2004 |publisher=Sage |isbn=9780761929437 |editor=Phyllis B. Gerstenfeld, Diana R. Grant |page=58 |chapter=Retaliation, Fear, or Rage |access-date=October 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103104548/https://books.google.com/books?id=n1E8LAg40pwC |archive-date=November 3, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Hendricks-2019" /><ref name="Golembeski-2023" /><ref>Theodore Sasson, [https://books.google.com/books?id=kX4TCgAAQBAJ&dq=Anti+Defamation+league+pro+Israel+advocacy&pg=PA45 ''The New American Zionism,''] [[New York University Press]] 2015 {{isbn|978-1-479-80611-9}} p.45.</ref>  Its current CEO is [[Jonathan Greenblatt]]. ADL headquarters are located in [[Murray Hill, Manhattan|Murray Hill]], in the [[New York City]] borough of [[Manhattan]]. The ADL has 25 regional offices in the United States<ref>{{cite web |title=Anti-Semitism in the US |url=https://www.adl.org/what-we-do/anti-semitism/anti-semitism-in-the-us |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200105180522/https://www.adl.org/what-we-do/anti-semitism/anti-semitism-in-the-us |archive-date=January 5, 2020 |access-date=December 10, 2019 |work=Anti-Defamation League |quote=Through our network of 25 regional offices}}</ref> including a Government Relations Office in Washington, D.C., as well as an office in Israel and staff in Europe.<ref>{{cite news |title=Anti-Semitism Globally |url=https://www.adl.org/what-we-do/anti-semitism/anti-semitism-globally |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227170231/https://www.adl.org/what-we-do/anti-semitism/anti-semitism-globally |archive-date=December 27, 2019 |access-date=December 10, 2019 |work=Anti-Defamation League}}</ref> In its 2023 annual information Form 990, ADL reported total revenues of $38.3 million, the vast majority from contributions and grants.<ref name="ProPublica-2013"/> Its total operating revenue for 2023 was reported at $57.9 million.<ref name="ProPublica-2013"/>

It was founded in late September 1913 by the Independent Order of [[B'nai B'rith]], a Jewish [[service organization]], in the wake of the contentious murder conviction of [[Leo Frank]]. The ADL subsequently split from B'nai B'rith and continued as an independent US section 501(c)(3) [[nonprofit]]. In an early campaign, the ADL and allied groups pressured the automaker [[Henry Ford]], who had published virulently antisemitic propaganda.<ref name="Blakeslee" /><ref name="Hendricks-2019">{{Cite book |last=Hendricks |first=Nancy |title=Political Groups, Parties, and Organizations That Shaped America: An Encyclopedia and Document Collection |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |year=2019 |isbn=9781440851964 |editor-last=Ainsworth |editor-first=Scott H. |volume=1 |chapter=Anti-Defamation League |editor-last2=Harward |editor-first2=Brian M.}}</ref> In the 1930s, the ADL worked with the American Jewish Committee (AJC) to oppose [[Nazism in the United States|pro-Nazi]] activity in the United States.<ref name="Ross-2017" /><ref name="Golembeski-2023" /> It opposed [[McCarthyism]] during the [[Cold War]],<ref name="Hendricks-2019" /> and campaigned for major civil rights legislation in the 1960s.<ref name="Hendricks-2019" /><ref name="Golembeski-2023" /> It also worked with the NAACP to discredit the far right in a spy operation.<ref name="Times of Israel-2023" /> In the 1980s, it was involved in propaganda against [[Nelson Mandela]] of South Africa before embracing him the following decade.<ref name="Frankel-2010">{{Cite web |last=Frankel |first=Glenn |date=May 24, 2010 |title=Israel's Most Illicit Affair |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2010/05/24/israels-most-illicit-affair/ |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=Foreign Policy |archive-date=March 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328050756/https://foreignpolicy.com/2010/05/24/israels-most-illicit-affair/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Pogrund-2010">{{cite web |last=Pogrund |first=Benjamin |date=May 24, 2010 |title=The Unspoken Alliance: Israel's Secret Relationship With Apartheid South Africa |url=https://www.thejc.com/news/world/the-unspoken-alliance-israels-secret-relationship-with-apartheid-south-africa-1.41865 |accessdate=2023-03-27 |publisher=[[The Jewish Chronicle]] |archive-date=March 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328023023/https://www.thejc.com/news/world/the-unspoken-alliance-israels-secret-relationship-with-apartheid-south-africa-1.41865 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Since the 1970s, the ADL has advanced the concept of [[new antisemitism]], including a definition that says [[anti-Zionism]] and some [[criticisms of Israel]] are antisemitic.<ref name="Guyer-2024" /><ref>{{cite journal |last=Romeyn |first=Esther |date=2020-03-14 |title=(Anti) 'new antisemitism' as a transnational field of racial governance |journal=Patterns of Prejudice |publisher=Informa UK Limited |volume=54 |issue=1–2 |pages=199–214 |doi=10.1080/0031322x.2019.1696048 |issn=0031-322X |s2cid=219029515 |quote=In the United States, one the strongest promoters of various installments of the ‘new antisemitism’ thesis has been the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) which in 1974 published a book entitled The New Anti-Semitism.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Levin |first=Geoffery P. |year=2021 |title=Before the New Antisemitism: Arab Critics of Zionism and American Jewish Politics, 1917–1974 |journal=American Jewish History |publisher=Project MUSE |volume=105 |issue=1–2 |pages=103–126 |doi=10.1353/ajh.2021.0005 |issn=1086-3141 |s2cid=239741775 |quote=The ADL responded to these critiques as they came, but also in a cohesive way through a new book by Forster and Epstein titled The New Anti-Semitism, which would be their most important and best-selling publication.98 Like their previous books, The New Anti-Semitism stitched together a list of types of antisemitic threats, which had grown in length. In contrast to prior books focused on the far right and Arab propagandists, The New Anti-Semitism included the right-wing threat alongside threats that emanated from "The USSR, Western Europe, Latin America," and included "the Radical Left," "Arabs and Pro-Arabs," and Black Americans. Taken collectively, this bundle of threats, taken to include anti-Zionism, has been called the "New Anti-Semitism" from the book's publication onwards.}}</ref><ref name="Raab-1974" /> It has received criticism, including from members of its staff, that such advocacy has diverted the ADL from its historical fight against antisemitism.<ref name="Guyer-2024" /><ref name="The Nation-2024">{{cite web |date=31 January 2024 |title=The Anti-Defamation League: Israel's Attack Dog in the US |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/adl-israel-criticism-antisemitism-claims/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204122618/https://www.thenation.com/article/society/adl-israel-criticism-antisemitism-claims/ |archive-date=February 4, 2024 |accessdate=4 February 2024 |publisher=The Nation |quote=The ADL's priority today remains—as it has for decades—going after Americans who are simply opposed to Israel’s endless occupation and oppression of Palestinians.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Guyer |first=Jonathan |date=25 May 2023 |title=The high-stakes debate over how the US defines "antisemitism" |url=https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/5/25/23733396/internal-jewish-debate-definition-antisemitism-ihra-israel-zionism |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927105818/https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/5/25/23733396/internal-jewish-debate-definition-antisemitism-ihra-israel-zionism |archive-date=September 27, 2023 |accessdate=27 September 2023 |work=[[Vox (website)|Vox]]}}</ref>

== History ==

In its early decades, the ADL benefited from being among the few highly centralized Jewish community relations organizations alongside the American Jewish Committee and American Jewish Congress. This characteristic gave these three organizations greater influence on the national Jewish community at a time when most local congregations and organizations were splintered, with little outreach to the broader community. By the 1970s, decentralization yielded greater influence. By this point the ADL had succeeded in developing local branches, though the central office remained significant even in terms of local branch activities.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sklare |first1=Marshall |title=The Jewish Community in America |date=1974 |publisher=Behrman House |location=New York, New York |isbn=0874412048 |pages=88–89}}</ref>

=== Origins ===
The ADL was founded in late September 1913 by [[B'nai B'rith]], with [[Sigmund Livingston]] as its first leader.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.adl.org/who-we-are/our-mission|title=Our Mission|website=Anti-Defamation League|access-date=December 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030231725/https://www.adl.org/who-we-are/our-mission|archive-date=October 30, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> Its goals were to counter antisemitism, prejudice and discrimination.<ref name="Golembeski-2023" /> Initially the league largely represented Midwestern and Southern Jews concerned with antagonistic portrayals of Jews in popular culture along with social and economic discrimination.<ref name="Dinnerstein-1995">{{Cite book |last=Dinnerstein |first=Leonard |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/62319785 |title=Antisemitism in America |date=1995 |isbn=1-4237-3446-7 |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=74 |oclc=62319785 |access-date=March 26, 2023 |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621214850/https://search.worldcat.org/title/62319785 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1913, Atlanta B'nai B'rith President [[Leo Frank]] was convicted of the murder of a 13-year-old employee at a factory where he was superintendent; historians today generally consider Frank to have been innocent.<ref name="The Forward-2009" /> Jewish leadership viewed Frank as having been wrongly prosecuted and convicted because of local antisemitism and agitation by some of the local press.<ref>{{cite web |title=Leo Frank Case Leonard Dinnerstein |url=http://ia800300.us.archive.org/25/items/TheLeoFrankCaseByLeonardDinnerstein/leo-frank-case-leonard-dinnerstein.pdf}}</ref><ref name="Moore-1981" /> The role that prejudice played in Frank's conviction was mentioned by [[Adolf Kraus]] when he announced the creation of the ADL.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Excerpt of the Anti-Defamation League Founding Charter |url=https://www.adl.org/excerpt-anti-defamation-league-founding-charter |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=ADL |archive-date=March 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325224312/https://www.adl.org/excerpt-anti-defamation-league-founding-charter |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Moore |first=Deborah Dash |url=https://archive.org/details/bnaibrithch00moor/page/108 |title=B'nai B'rith and the Challenge of Ethnic Leadership |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-87395-480-8 |page=108 |author-link=Deborah Dash Moore}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Jerome A. Chanes |title=Jews in American Politics: Essays |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7425-0181-2 |editor1=Louis S |page=105 |chapter=Who Does What? |editor2=y Maisel |editor3=Ira N. Forman |editor4=Donald Altschiller |editor5=Charles Walker Bassett}}</ref> According to historians, the ADL's early strategy would be to pressure newspapers, theaters, and other businesses seen as defaming or discriminating against Jews; proposed methods included boycotts and pressuring advertisers, and it also considered demanding prior reviews of theater productions for antisemitism.<ref name="Moore-1981">In a letter to Simon Wolf, [Louis] Marshall explained further that "this entire prosecution was set in motion by the yellow press of Georgia, which finally succeeded in forcing the police, from motives of self-protection, to frame-up this case. The remedy must be found. . .in Georgia, and the press." [...] Wertheimer's analysis reveals that the ADL proposed to deal with defamations on the stage by asking for the right to "inspect proposed performances before the staging of the same;" were this right to prior censorship refused, "patrons of the theater would be enlisted for active cooperation"--that is, the ADL would organize a boycott of the given theater. Similarly, the ADL would fight newspaper defamations by "protests to the editor, by correcting all defamations through subsequent articles upon the same subject matter," and, if this did not happen, the ADL would appeal "to the patrons and advertisers for cooperation." Here again, the ADL threatened financial pressure.{{cite book|last=Moore|first=Deborah Dash|author-link=Deborah Dash Moore|title=B'nai B'rith and the Challenge of Ethnic Leadership|year=1981|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-87395-480-8|page=108|url=https://archive.org/details/bnaibrithch00moor/page/108}}</ref> After Georgia's outgoing governor commuted Frank's death sentence to life imprisonment in 1915, a [[Lynching|lynch mob]] abducted Frank from prison and killed him.<ref name="The Forward-2009">{{Cite web |date=2009-05-13 |title=The People Revisit Leo Frank |url=https://forward.com/culture/105936/the-people-revisit-leo-frank/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=The Forward |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316042619/https://forward.com/culture/105936/the-people-revisit-leo-frank/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Frank was granted a posthumous [[pardon]] from Georgia in 1986 after ADL requests.<ref name="The Forward-2009" />

=== 1920s through 1960s ===
{{See also|Jews in the civil rights movement}}
The historian Leonard Dinnerstein writes that until after World War II, the ADL had limited impact, particularly less than the [[American Jewish Committee]] (AJC).<ref name="Dinnerstein-1995" /> One of the ADL's early campaigns occurred in the 1920s when it organized a media effort and consumer boycott against ''[[The Dearborn Independent]]'', a publication published by American automobile industrialist [[Henry Ford]]. The publication contained virulently antisemitic articles and quoted heavily from ''[[The Protocols of the Elders of Zion]]'', an antisemitic hoax. The ADL and allied organizations pressured Ford until he issued an apology in 1927.<ref name="Blakeslee">Blakeslee, Spencer (2000).''The Death of American Antisemitism''. Praeger/Greenwood. {{ISBN|0-275-96508-2}}, p. 83.</ref>

In 1933, the ADL moved offices to Chicago and Richard E. Gutstadt became director of national activities. With the change in leadership, the ADL shifted from Livingston's reactive responses to antisemitic action to a much more aggressive policy.<ref>{{cite news |last1=A. Goldman |first1=EricQ |title=Hollywood's Most Misunderstood and Forgotten Jewish Movie Returns |url=https://forward.com/culture/206197/hollywoods-most-misunderstood-and-forgotten-jewish/ |access-date=22 January 2022 |work=The Forward |date=September 23, 2014 |archive-date=July 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723203157/https://forward.com/culture/206197/hollywoods-most-misunderstood-and-forgotten-jewish/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the 1930s, the ADL, along with the AJC, coordinated American Jewish groups across the country in monitoring the activities of the [[German American Bund|German-American Bund]] and its pro-Nazi, nativist allies in the United States. In many instances, these community-based defense organizations paid informants to infiltrate these groups and report on what they discovered. The longest-lived and most effective of these American Jewish resistance organizations was the Los Angeles Jewish Community Committee (LAJCC), which was backed financially by the Jewish leaders of the motion picture industry. The day-to-day operations of the LAJCC were supervised by a Jewish attorney, [[Leon L. Lewis]]. Lewis was uniquely qualified to combat the rise of Nazism in Los Angeles, having served as the first national secretary of the Anti-Defamation League in Chicago from 1925 to 1931. From 1934 to 1941, the LAJCC maintained its undercover surveillance of the German-American Bund, the [[Silver Legion of America|Silver Shirts]] and dozens of other pro-Nazi, nativist groups that operated in Los Angeles. Partnering with the American Legion in Los Angeles, the LAJCC channeled eyewitness accounts of sedition on to federal authorities. Working with the ADL, Leon Lewis and the LAJCC played a strategic role in counseling the [[McCormack-Dickstein Committee]] investigation of Nazi propaganda activities in the United States (1934) and the Dies Committee investigation of "un-American activities" (1938–1940). In their final reports to Congress, both committees found that the sudden rise in political [[antisemitism in the United States]] during the decade was due, in part, to the German government's support of these domestic groups.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rosenzweig|first=Laura|url=https://nyupress.org/books/9781479855179/|title=Hollywood's Spies: The Undercover Surveillance of Nazis in Los Angeles|date=2017|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=9781479855179|location=New York|access-date=June 2, 2017|archive-date=August 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807022703/https://nyupress.org/books/9781479855179/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Ross-2017">{{cite book|last=Ross|first=Steven|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/hitler-in-los-angeles-9781620405642/|title=Hitler in Los Angeles: How Jews Foiled Nazi Plots Against Hollywood and America|date=2017|publisher=Bloomsbury|isbn=9781620405642|location=New York|access-date=May 6, 2018|archive-date=September 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921215252/https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/hitler-in-los-angeles-9781620405642/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Paralleling its infiltration efforts, the ADL continued its attempts to reduce antisemitic caricatures in the media. Much like the [[NAACP]], it chose a non-confrontational approach, attempting to build long-lasting relationships and avoid backlash. The ADL requested its members avoid public confrontation, instead directing them to send letters to the media and advertising companies that included antisemitic or racist references in screening copies of their books and movies. This strategy kept the campaigns out of the public eye and instead emphasized the development of a relationship with companies.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Greenberg |first1=Cheryl Lynn |title=Troubling the waters : Black-Jewish relations in the American century |date=2006 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |isbn=9780691058658 |pages=55–58}}</ref>

The ADL was critical of [[red-baiting]] and [[McCarthyism]] in the 1950s.<ref name="Hendricks-2019" /> However, during the Second Red Scare, the ADL expelled Jewish communists from the organization, cooperated with the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]], and supported the execution of [[Julius and Ethel Rosenberg]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishpress.com/sections/features/features-on-jewish-world/the-jewish-features-of-the-infamous-rosenberg-case/2024/03/27/ |title=The Jewish Features Of The Infamous Rosenberg Case |date=March 27, 2024 |publisher=[[The Jewish Press]] |accessdate=2025-03-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tikkun.org/ethel-rosenberg-a-personal-perspective/ |title=Ethel Rosenberg: A Personal Perspective |date=August 18, 2021 |publisher=[[Tikkun.org]] |accessdate=2025-03-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/world/americas/north-america/2021/03/executed-innocent-why-justice-ethel-rosenberg-still-matters |title=The executed innocent: Why justice for Ethel Rosenberg still matters |date=March 26, 2021 |publisher=[[New Statesman]] |accessdate=2025-03-31}}</ref> The ADL rejected accusations that the Rosenberg trial was influenced by antisemitism. Judge [[Irving Kaufman]], who ordered the execution of the Rosenbergs, was a member of the ADL's Civil Rights committee.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://jewishcurrents.org/the-anti-democratic-origins-of-the-jewish-establishment |title=The Anti-Democratic Origins of the ADL and AJC |publisher=[[Jewish Currents]] |accessdate=2025-03-31}}</ref> In 1952, [[Lucy Dawidowicz]] wrote in ''[[Commentary (magazine)|Commentary]]'' that Jewish communists viewed the ADL and other mainstream Jewish organizations as "reactionary, fascist-collaborating oligarchs and conspiratorial enemies both of democracy and their own oppressed people."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.commentary.org/articles/lucy-dawidowicz/anti-semitism-and-the-rosenberg-casethe-latest-communist-propaganda-trap/ |title="Anti-Semitism" and the Rosenberg Case:The Latest Communist Propaganda Trap |date=July 1952 |publisher=[[Commentary (magazine)|Commentary]] |accessdate=2025-03-31}}</ref> In 1952, the ADL and other Jewish organizations released a joint statement rejecting the claims of the [[National Committee to Secure Justice in the Rosenberg Case]] that the trial was motivated by antisemitism. The statement characterized the Rosenberg Committee as trying to "inject the false issue of anti-Semitism".<ref>{{cite web |last=Gilbert |first=Lauren |url=https://blog.cjh.org/index.php/2023/04/25/a-very-ticklish-problem-the-ajc-response-to-the-rosenberg-trial-execution/ |title={{-'}}A Very Ticklish Problem': The AJC Response to the Rosenberg Trial & Execution |work=[[Center for Jewish History]] |date=April 27, 2023 |access-date=2025-04-04}}</ref> A 1952 ADL document claimed that "The Communists, in their worldwide propaganda attack defending the convicted atom spies, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, provide a vivid example of the technique of falsely charging anti-Semitism to hide conspiracy."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/assets/pdf/anti-semitism/united-states/the-protocols-and-the-purge-trial-1952.pdf |title=The Protocols of the Purge Trial |publisher=[[Wayback Machine]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210403050658/http://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/assets/pdf/anti-semitism/united-states/the-protocols-and-the-purge-trial-1952.pdf |accessdate=2025-03-31|archive-date=April 3, 2021 }}</ref>

The ADL campaigned for [[Civil rights movement|civil rights]] legislation including the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]].<ref name="Golembeski-2023">{{Cite web |last=Golembeski |first=Cynthia |date=2023-06-25 |title=Anti-Defamation League |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Anti-Defamation-League |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|archive-date=November 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120153550/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Anti-Defamation-League |url-status=live }}</ref> The ADL and the NAACP worked together to discredit the far right in the United States, according to Mathew Delleck, the ADL was perhaps the most effective group in discrediting extremist right wing elements in the United States.<ref name="Times of Israel-2023" /> The ADL conducted a spy operation headed by Isadore Zack, against the far right<ref name="Times of Israel-2023">{{Cite news |date=21 May 2023 |title=How an ADL spy operation helped bring down the far-right John Birch Society |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-an-adl-spy-operation-helped-bring-down-the-far-right-john-birch-society/ |work=Times of Israel}}</ref>

=== 1970s and 1980s ===
In 1973, [[Nathan Perlmutter]] took the role of national director, serving until his death in 1987.<ref name="Jewish Telegraphic Agency-1987">{{cite news |title=Nathan Perlmutter, Author and ADL Director, Dead at 64 |url=https://www.jta.org/1987/07/14/archive/nathan-perlmutter-author-and-adl-director-dead-at-64 |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=July 14, 1987 |access-date=June 16, 2021 |archive-date=June 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624200109/https://www.jta.org/1987/07/14/archive/nathan-perlmutter-author-and-adl-director-dead-at-64 |url-status=live }}</ref> Under the tenure of Perlmutter and his 1978–1983 co-director of interreligious affairs [[Yechiel Eckstein]], the ADL shifted its approach to the evangelical Christian movement. Through the 60s and early 70s, the ADL had conflicted with the American Jewish Congress over their collaborations with evangelicals. Perlmutter and Eckstein changed this orientation, increasing collaborations and developing long-lasting lines of communication between the ADL and evangelical groups. This collaboration continued under the Foxman administration.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hummel |first1=Daniel G. |title=His Land and the Origins of the Jewish-Evangelical Israel Lobby |journal=Church History |date=December 2018 |volume=87 |issue=4 |pages=1147–1150 |doi=10.1017/S0009640718002391|s2cid=166538830 | issn=0009-6407}}</ref>

Since the 1970s, the ADL has partnered with the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) field offices, sharing information learned from the monitoring of extremist groups.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Michael|first=George|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5SOAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA167|title=Confronting Right Wing Extremism and Terrorism in the USA|date=2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-37762-6|page=167|volume=4|series=Routledge Studies in Extremism and Democracy|access-date=February 26, 2017|archive-date=June 21, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621214724/https://books.google.com/books?id=5SOAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA167#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1977, the ADL opened a headquarters in [[Jerusalem]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wall |first1=Harry |title=Op-ed {{!}} Appreciation: Arnold Forster, ADL leader and Israel advocate |url=https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/Appreciation-Arnold-Forster-ADL-leader-and-Israel-advocate |access-date=5 August 2021 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=March 14, 2010 |archive-date=August 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805183651/https://www.jpost.com/opinion/op-ed-contributors/appreciation-arnold-forster-adl-leader-and-israel-advocate |url-status=live }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=August 2021}}

It opposed an [[Anti-Mormonism|anti-Mormon]] film called ''[[The God Makers]]'' in 1982, viewing it a challenge to religious freedom.<ref name="Hendricks-2019" />

=== 1990s ===
The ADL released a 1991 report observing an increase in the use of public access television stations by extremist groups. The report came in the wake of the trial of [[Tom Metzger]], a white supremacist leader found guilty of inciting a murder via his public access TV station.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rosenkrantz |first1=H. Glenn |title=Hate Group Makes Hay On Public Access |url=https://ajrarchive.org/article.asp?id=2118 |work=American Journalism Review |issue=September 1991}}</ref>

San Francisco police searched two offices of the ADL in April 1993, suspecting it of having monitored thousands of activists; in the search, they confiscated police records including fingerprints and copies of confidential reports, according to court documents.<ref name="McGee-1993" /> The San Francisco district attorney considered indictments, but settled with the ADL in November 1993 in exchange for the ADL paying $75,000 for use fighting hate crimes.<ref name="Goldsmith-2002" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Paddock |first=Richard C. |date=1993-11-16 |title=ADL to Avoid Prosecution in Spying Case |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-16-mn-57514-story.html |access-date=2023-09-23 |website=Los Angeles Times |archive-date=September 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930215552/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-16-mn-57514-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> During the investigation, a private investigator hired by the ADL, Roy H. Bullock, told police he had tracked [[White power skinhead|skinheads]], white supremacists, [[Arab Americans]], and critics of Israel. He confessed to trying to find "any sexual impropriety" on the late anti-apartheid activist [[Desmond Tutu]].<ref name="The Nation-2024"/> In court documents, state officials said that the ADL conspired to obtain the confidential police material, a felony in California, and that the ADL had violated state tax laws by paying Bullock through a lawyer.<ref name="McGee-1993" /> The court documents said the ADL had a network of sympathetic police officers sharing data, and that investigators had questioned police about free sponsored trips to Israel they received from the ADL. The documents also mentioned that the ADL's spying operations were reported to the Israeli government and its intelligence agencies.<ref name="The Nation-2024"/> The ADL's Foxman contended that the ADL had a right to use the police information to combat antisemitism, and he argued in an interview that allegations that the ADL acted as an agent for Israel were "antisemitic".<ref name="McGee-1993">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/10/19/jewish-groups-tactics-investigated/96daef6a-a325-4a8a-ba09-da211fc1ba8a/ |last=McGee |first=Jim |title=JEWISH GROUP'S TACTICS INVESTIGATED |date=19 October 1993 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=September 10, 2023 |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621214737/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/10/19/jewish-groups-tactics-investigated/96daef6a-a325-4a8a-ba09-da211fc1ba8a/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

News of the investigation led Arab Americans listed in the ADL's files to sue the ADL, contending invasion of privacy and the forwarding of confidential information to Israel and South Africa.<ref name="McGee-1993" />
In 1996, ADL settled the federal civil lawsuit filed by groups representing [[African Americans]] and [[Arab Americans]]. The ADL did not admit any wrongdoing but agreed to a restraining injunction barring it from obtaining information from state employees who cannot legally disclose such information.<ref name="Weinstein-1996" /> The ADL agreed to contribute $25,000 to a fund that funds inter-community relationship projects, and cover the plaintiffs' legal costs of $175,000.<ref name="Weinstein-1996">{{Cite web|last=Weinstein|first=Henry|date=1996-09-04|title=Anti-Defamation League Settles Lawsuit by Civil Rights Groups|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-09-04-mn-40507-story.html|access-date=2023-03-11|website=Los Angeles Times|archive-date=March 11, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311163027/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-09-04-mn-40507-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Tugend |first=Tom |title=ADL to Pay $200,000 to Settle Suit Alleging Spying Activities |url=https://www.jta.org/1996/09/06/archive/adl-to-pay-200000-to-settle-suit-alleging-spying-activities |work=JTA Daily News Bulletin |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=September 6, 1996 |access-date=January 28, 2019 |archive-date=January 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190128140128/https://www.jta.org/1996/09/06/archive/adl-to-pay-200000-to-settle-suit-alleging-spying-activities |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1=David Singer |editor2=Ruth R. Seldin |title=American Jewish year book, 1998. Vol. 98 |date=1998 |publisher=American Jewish Committee |location=New York |pages=96–97 |isbn=0874951135 |url=http://www.ajcarchives.org/AJC_DATA/Files/1998_4_USCivicPolitical.pdf#PAGE=23 |access-date=March 24, 2021 |archive-date=July 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721160851/http://www.ajcarchives.org/AJC_DATA/Files/1998_4_USCivicPolitical.pdf#PAGE=23 |url-status=live }}</ref> It settled with three remaining plaintiffs in 2002 for $178,000.<ref name="Goldsmith-2002">{{Cite web |last=Goldsmith |first=Aleza |date=2002-02-26 |title=ADL settles privacy lawsuit |url=https://www.jta.org/2002/02/26/lifestyle/adl-settles-privacy-lawsuit |access-date=2023-09-23 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |archive-date=September 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930215156/https://www.jta.org/2002/02/26/lifestyle/adl-settles-privacy-lawsuit |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1994, ADL became involved in a dispute between neighbors in Denver, Colorado. The Aronson family reported this dispute to the ADL, which involved the Quigley family making antisemitic comments. The ADL advised the Aronsons to record the Quigleys' private telephone conversations via a police scanner. These recordings were legal at the time, but federal wiretap law was amended shortly after to make it illegal to record conversations from a cordless telephone, to transcribe the material, and to use the transcriptions for any purpose.<ref name="Leppek-2000">{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/13674/edition_id/264/format/html/displaystory.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060510144644/http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/13674/edition_id/264/format/html/displaystory.html|archive-date=May 10, 2006|title=Judge fines ADL $10.5 million in Colorado defamation suit|website=Jewish News Weekly of Northern California|date=May 12, 2000|first=Chris|last=Leppek}}</ref> ADL Regional Director Saul Rosenthal described the recorded remarks as part of a "vicious antisemitic campaign". This led to the family being ridiculed and excluded in their community and to career damage. These recordings were used as basis for a federal civil lawsuit against the Aronson family and the ADL for [[defamation]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Quigley v. Rosenthall|url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-10th-circuit/1360107.html|work=Findlaw|access-date=June 23, 2015|archive-date=June 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623150242/http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-10th-circuit/1360107.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Lane|first1=George|title=Charges of bigotry backfire|url=http://extras.denverpost.com/news/news0429.htm|access-date=June 23, 2015|issue=April 29, 2000|newspaper=Denver Post|archive-date=June 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623145617/http://extras.denverpost.com/news/news0429.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The Quigleys and Aronsons settled out-of-court,<ref name="Leppek-2000"/> and a jury awarded the Quigleys $10 million in damages from the ADL.<ref name="The New York Times-2000">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/13/us/privacy-rights-win-over-bias-charges-in-defamation-case.html | work=The New York Times | title=Privacy Rights Win Over Bias Charges In Defamation Case | date=May 13, 2000 | access-date=February 5, 2017 | archive-date=August 3, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803104909/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/13/us/privacy-rights-win-over-bias-charges-in-defamation-case.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

This was the first-ever verdict against the ADL. Only once before had the League been subject to a defamation trial, a case it won in 1984. Other cases were dismissed before reaching trial.<ref name="The New York Times-2000" /> The ADL appealed the case to a superior court, which upheld the verdict, and the Supreme Court ultimately declined to take the case. The ADL paid the original $10 million plus interest in 2004.<ref>{{cite news |title=ADL Pays More Than $12 Million to Former Evergreen Couple |date=March 12, 2004 |newspaper=Rocky Mountain News |last=Abbott |first=Karen|url=http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2723185,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040316024351/http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2723185,00.html|archive-date=March 16, 2004}}</ref>

=== 2000s ===
In 2003, the ADL opposed an advertising campaign by [[People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals]] (PETA) called "Holocaust on Your Plate" that compared animals killed in the meat industry to victims of the [[Holocaust]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/02/28/peta.holocaust/|date=28 February 2003|publisher=CNN|title=Group blasts PETA 'Holocaust' project|access-date=March 8, 2022|archive-date=February 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202011423/http://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/02/28/peta.holocaust/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2005, PETA apologized for causing distress to the Jewish community through the campaign, though in 2008, the [[Chief Rabbinate]] announced that it was planning to gradually phase out the use of the "shackle and hoist" method of [[kosher slaughter]] in Israel and South America, in part in response to pressure from PETA.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.jpost.com/jewish-world/jewish-news/rabbinate-to-phase-out-shackle-and-hoist-animal-slaughter|title=Rabbinate to phase out 'shackle and hoist' animal slaughter. More humane method to be adopted following claims of cruelty|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=February 19, 2008|last=Wagner|first=Matthew|access-date=May 29, 2021|archive-date=June 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602213011/https://www.jpost.com/jewish-world/jewish-news/rabbinate-to-phase-out-shackle-and-hoist-animal-slaughter|url-status=live}}</ref>

As of 2007, the ADL said it was archiving MySpace pages associated with white supremacists as part of its effort to track extremism.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Spencer |first1=Jason |title=Found in (My)Space |url=https://ajrarchive.org/article.asp?id=4405&id=4405 |access-date=16 July 2021 |magazine=[[American Journalism Review]] |issue=October/November 2007}}</ref>

The ADL opposed [[2008 California Proposition 8]], a ballot successful initiative that banned same-sex marriage. It did so alongside Jewish organizations, including the National Council of Jewish Women and the Progressive Jewish Alliance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.forward.com/articles/14106/|title=Orthodox Join Fight Against Gay Nuptials|work=[[The Forward]]| date=August 29, 2008 |access-date=September 19, 2008|archive-date=September 11, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080911205150/http://www.forward.com/articles/14106/|url-status=live|first=Rebecca|last=Spence}}</ref> The ADL filed [[amicus brief]]s urging the [[Supreme Court of California]], [[Ninth Circuit]], and the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] to invalidate Prop 8.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://38.106.4.56/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentID=1228|title=BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE ET AL. IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENTS|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130307154233/http://38.106.4.56/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentID=1228|archive-date=March 7, 2013|access-date=November 1, 2013}}</ref> In 2015, the ADL opposed the [[State Religious Freedom Restoration Acts]], state laws that used the United States Supreme Court decision in [[Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.]] recognizing a for-profit corporation's claim of religious belief. The ADL opposed these laws out of concern they largely targeted LGBT people or denied access to contraceptives to employees of religiously owned businesses.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sokol |first1=Sam |title=ADL slams controversial 'religious freedom' laws in US |url=https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/ADL-slams-controversial-religious-freedom-laws-in-US-396007 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=April 2, 2015 |access-date=March 29, 2020 |archive-date=March 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329163616/https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/ADL-slams-controversial-religious-freedom-laws-in-US-396007 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The ADL became independent from B'nai B'rith in 2009, dropping the reference to the other organization in its name.<ref name="Amistad Research Center"/>

=== 2010s ===
[[File:Jonathan Greenblatt by Gage Skidmore.jpg|thumb|Greenblatt in 2017]]
The ADL was one of the groups that opposed the ''[[Shelby County v. Holder]]'' decision by the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] in 2013 to strike down a portion of the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965|Voting Rights Act]]. The court's decision ended the portion of the law that required states with a history of discrimination to undergo federal scrutiny for election rules.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 26, 2013 |title=Jewish Groups Blast Top U.S. Court's Changes to Voting Rights Act|work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2013-06-26/ty-article/u-s-jews-blast-voting-rights-ruling/0000017f-e343-df7c-a5ff-e37b6bfe0000 |access-date=2023-07-15 |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621214727/https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2013-06-26/ty-article/u-s-jews-blast-voting-rights-ruling/0000017f-e343-df7c-a5ff-e37b6bfe0000 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Zipken |first=Romy |date=June 26, 2013 |title=Jewish Groups Respond Voting Rights Act Decision |work=Tablet |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/jewish-groups-respond-voting-rights-act-decision |access-date=July 15, 2023 |archive-date=July 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230715142808/https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/jewish-groups-respond-voting-rights-act-decision |url-status=live }}</ref>

In November 2014, the organization announced that [[Jonathan Greenblatt]], a former Silicon Valley tech executive and former [[Obama administration]] official who had not operated within the Jewish communal organization world prior to his hiring, would succeed [[Abraham Foxman]] as national director in July 2015.<ref>{{cite news |title=White House aide Jonathan Greenblatt to succeed Abe Foxman as ADL chief |first=	Uriel |last=Heilman |url=http://www.jta.org/2014/11/06/news-opinion/united-states/white-house-aide-to-succeed-abe-foxman-as-adl-chief-1 |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=November 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823093306/https://www.jta.org/2014/11/06/news-opinion/united-states/white-house-aide-to-succeed-abe-foxman-as-adl-chief-1 |archive-date=August 23, 2018}}</ref> Foxman had served as national director since 1987. The ADL board of directors renewed Greenblatt's contract as CEO and national director in fall 2020 for a second five-year term. The national chair of the governing board of directors is Esta Gordon Epstein; elected in late 2018 for a three-year term, she is the second woman to hold the organization's top volunteer leadership post.<ref>{{Cite press release|date=November 8, 2018|title=Longtime ADL Boston Leader Esta Gordon Named Chair of Organization's National Board|url=https://newengland.adl.org/news/longtime-adl-boston-leader-esta-epstein-named-chair-of-organizations-national-board/|access-date=March 29, 2020|archive-date=March 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329170318/https://newengland.adl.org/news/longtime-adl-boston-leader-esta-epstein-named-chair-of-organizations-national-board/|url-status=live|website=ADL}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=November 29, 2018|title=Esta Epstein named chair of ADL's Board of Directors|url=https://jewishjournal.org/2018/11/29/esta-epstein-named-chair-of-adls-board-of-directors/|access-date=March 23, 2021|website=Jewish Journal|archive-date=July 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712222131/https://jewishjournal.org/2018/11/29/esta-epstein-named-chair-of-adls-board-of-directors/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The ADL repeatedly accused [[Donald Trump]], when he was a presidential candidate in 2016, of making use of antisemitic tropes or otherwise exploiting divisive and bigoted rhetoric during the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 presidential election campaign]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-campaign-fires-back-at-adl-over-ad-criticized-for-anti-semitic-tones/|title=Trump campaign fires back at ADL over ad criticized for anti-Semitic tones|last=Cortelless|first=Eric|date=November 7, 2016|website=The Times of Israel|access-date=April 22, 2020|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726054838/https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-campaign-fires-back-at-adl-over-ad-criticized-for-anti-semitic-tones/|url-status=live}}</ref> The ADL accused President Trump of politicizing charges of antisemitism for partisan purposes,<ref name="CNN-2019">{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/08/21/jonathan-greenblatt-trump-tweet-jewish-democrats-disloyal-nr-sot-vpx.cnn|work=CNN|title=ADL CEO: Jews are not political props for partisan gain|date=August 21, 2019|access-date=April 22, 2020|archive-date=July 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712222222/https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/08/21/jonathan-greenblatt-trump-tweet-jewish-democrats-disloyal-nr-sot-vpx.cnn|url-status=live}}</ref> and for continued use of antisemitic tropes.<ref name="Kuruvilla-2019">{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jewish-leaders-trump-disloyalty_n_5d5d4d04e4b0aa0b840cb80d|title=Jewish Leaders Blast Trump's Accusations Of 'Disloyalty'|last=Kuruvilla|first=Carol|date=August 21, 2019|website=HuffPost|access-date=April 22, 2020|archive-date=February 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200214010518/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jewish-leaders-trump-disloyalty_n_5d5d4d04e4b0aa0b840cb80d|url-status=live}}</ref> The ADL said it was facing a discredit campaign for its criticism of Trump.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 2016 |title=ADL chief sees 'organized' campaign to discredit group |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/adl-chief-sees-organized-campaign-to-discredit-group/ |work=Times of Israel |access-date=July 29, 2024 |archive-date=July 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240729125700/https://www.timesofisrael.com/adl-chief-sees-organized-campaign-to-discredit-group/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In mid-2018, the ADL raised concerns over President Donald Trump's nomination of then-DC Circuit Court of Appeals judge [[Brett Kavanaugh]] as an Associate Justice of the [[Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/jewish-groups-slam-trump-s-supreme-court-nominee-kavanaugh-1.6264823|title=Jewish Groups Slam Trump's Supreme Court Nominee Kavanaugh|newspaper=Haaretz|date=July 10, 2018|access-date=April 15, 2020|archive-date=May 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200524141327/https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/jewish-groups-slam-trump-s-supreme-court-nominee-kavanaugh-1.6264823|url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Subsequently, in another move that enraged many on the right, the ADL called for the resignation or firing of [[First presidency of Donald Trump|Trump administration]] official [[Stephen Miller (political advisor)|Stephen Miller]], the architect of the administration's immigration policy, on the basis of his association with white supremacists.<ref name="Mathias-2019">{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jewish-groups-stephen-miller-resign-white-nationalist_n_5dd69935e4b0e29d72800575?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly91cy5zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAG5GoJ0dtOkPudr5tkzXMWY-wRmtd1nHDOfZ1c7WOW3gYQKtSQgDjZaIXDUnko0UMrEJVEYUXG3jMWrrsrV52jBKycFPCh7lje-saS6lbR17o5_4ikE4B7PIIACorUKfLxJXapH0BueU1WTMTER8dUqZKRH2Ep2TZ2Y83nmA0kDE|title=Jewish Groups Demand Stephen Miller Resign From White House|last=Mathias|first=Christopher|date=November 21, 2019|website=HuffPost|access-date=March 29, 2020|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726063407/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jewish-groups-stephen-miller-resign-white-nationalist_n_5dd69935e4b0e29d72800575?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly91cy5zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAG5GoJ0dtOkPudr5tkzXMWY-wRmtd1nHDOfZ1c7WOW3gYQKtSQgDjZaIXDUnko0UMrEJVEYUXG3jMWrrsrV52jBKycFPCh7lje-saS6lbR17o5_4ikE4B7PIIACorUKfLxJXapH0BueU1WTMTER8dUqZKRH2Ep2TZ2Y83nmA0kDE|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Jewish-groups-again-call-for-Stephen-Miller-to-quit-614202|title=Jewish groups again call for Stephen Miller to quit|last=Kampeas|first=Ron|author-link=Ron Kampeas|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=January 15, 2020|access-date=April 15, 2020|archive-date=April 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422045428/https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/jewish-groups-again-call-for-stephen-miller-to-quit-614202|url-status=live}}</ref>

The ADL says it has participated in [[YouTube]]'s Trusted Flagger program and has encouraged YouTube to remove videos that they flag as hate speech, citing the need to "fight against terrorist use of online resources and cyberhate."<ref>{{cite web|first=Benjamin|last=Kerstein|url=https://www.algemeiner.com/2019/06/05/adl-praises-youtube-for-decision-to-remove-racist-extremist-content/|title=ADL Praises YouTube for Decision to Remove Racist, Extremist Content|website=Algemeiner|date=June 5, 2019|access-date=October 3, 2019|archive-date=October 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191003210923/https://www.algemeiner.com/2019/06/05/adl-praises-youtube-for-decision-to-remove-racist-extremist-content/|url-status=live}}</ref> The ADL's Center on Technology and Society launched a survey in 2019 exploring online harassment in video games. It found that the majority of surveyed players experienced severe harassment of some kind, and the ADL recommended increased content moderation from game companies and governments. On the other hand, the survey found that over half of players experienced some form of positive community in video games. A separate, earlier survey of the general population found that around a third of people have experienced some form of online harassment.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Dean|work=Venturebeat|last=Takahashi|url=https://venturebeat.com/2019/07/25/anti-defamation-league-65-of-gamers-have-experienced-severe-harassment-in-online-games/|title=Anti-Defamation League: 65% of gamers have suffered severe harassment online|date=July 26, 2019|access-date=March 28, 2020|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726053839/https://venturebeat.com/2019/07/25/anti-defamation-league-65-of-gamers-have-experienced-severe-harassment-in-online-games/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In July 2017, the ADL announced that they would be developing profiles on 36 [[alt-right]] and [[alt-lite]] leaders.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/adl-releases-whos-who-guide-of-alt-right-and-alt-lite-extremists/|first=Eric|last=Cortellessa|date=July 18, 2017|title=ADL releases 'Who's Who' guide of alt-right and alt-lite extremists|work=The Times of Israel|access-date=July 19, 2017|archive-date=July 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718233451/http://www.timesofisrael.com/adl-releases-whos-who-guide-of-alt-right-and-alt-lite-extremists/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.adl.org/education/resources/backgrounders/from-alt-right-to-alt-lite-naming-the-hate|title=Backgrounder: From Alt Right to Alt Lite: Naming the Hate|website=Anti-Defamation League|access-date=July 19, 2017|archive-date=October 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024230932/https://www.adl.org/education/resources/backgrounders/from-alt-right-to-alt-lite-naming-the-hate|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2019 and 2020, ADL executives and staff testified multiple times in front of Congressional committees concerning the dangers of right-wing domestic extremists.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hershenov |first=Eileen |date=April 25, 2019 |title=I Testified at a Congressional Hearing on White Nationalism. Here's Some of What I Wish We Had Discussed. |url=https://www.adl.org/blog/i-testified-at-a-congressional-hearing-on-white-nationalism-heres-some-of-what-i-wish-we-had |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726063407/https://www.adl.org/blog/i-testified-at-a-congressional-hearing-on-white-nationalism-heres-some-of-what-i-wish-we-had |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |access-date=March 28, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cortellessa |first=Eric |date=January 16, 2020 |title=ADL tells Congress to curb online hate speech if social media giants won't |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/adl-tells-congress-to-curb-online-hate-speech-if-social-media-giants-wont/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200402094655/https://www.timesofisrael.com/adl-tells-congress-to-curb-online-hate-speech-if-social-media-giants-wont/ |archive-date=April 2, 2020 |access-date=March 28, 2020 |work=Times of Israel}}</ref> In a report from 2018, the ADL noted that the majority of domestic extremist-related murders in the United States over the past decade had been committed by white supremacists.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 20, 2018 |title=New Hate and Old: The Changing Face of American White Supremacy |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/report/new-hate-and-old-changing-face-american-white-supremacy |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=www.adl.org |archive-date=February 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214030607/https://www.adl.org/resources/report/new-hate-and-old-changing-face-american-white-supremacy |url-status=live }}</ref> In a 2023 report, white supremacists were also deemed responsible for 45% of right-wing extremism in the US from 2017 to 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 15, 2023 |title=Right-Wing Extremist Terrorism in the United States |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/report/right-wing-extremist-terrorism-united-states |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=www.adl.org |archive-date=January 31, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240131224006/https://www.adl.org/resources/report/right-wing-extremist-terrorism-united-states |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== 2020s ===

In 2020, the ADL joined with the [[NAACP]], [[Color of Change]], [[League of United Latin American Citizens|LULAC]], [[Free Press (advocacy group)|Free Press]], the [[National Hispanic Media Coalition]] and other organizations in the [[Stop Hate For Profit]] campaign.<ref>{{Cite web|date=September 18, 2020|title=Stop Hate for Profit|url=https://www.stophateforprofit.org/|access-date=October 10, 2020|website=StopHateForProfit.org|archive-date=June 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617204533/https://www.stophateforprofit.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> The campaign targeted online hate on Facebook, with over 1000 businesses pausing their ad buys on Facebook for a month. Subsequently, in September 2020, the campaign organized celebrity supporters including [[Sacha Baron Cohen]], [[Kim Kardashian]], and [[Mark Ruffalo]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Oster|first=Marcy|date=September 16, 2020|title=Sacha Baron Cohen freezes Instagram to protest hate speech on Facebook|url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/sacha-baron-cohen-freezes-instagram-to-protest-hate-speech-on-facebook-642436|website=The Jerusalem Post|access-date=October 10, 2020|archive-date=October 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201011033416/https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/sacha-baron-cohen-freezes-instagram-to-protest-hate-speech-on-facebook-642436|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Byers |first=Dylan |date=2020-09-15 |title=Kim Kardashian West, other celebrities to freeze Facebook and Instagram accounts in protest |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/kim-kardashian-west-other-celebrities-freeze-facebook-instagram-accounts-protest-n1240156 |access-date=2023-06-02 |website=NBC News |archive-date=June 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602015223/https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/kim-kardashian-west-other-celebrities-freeze-facebook-instagram-accounts-protest-n1240156 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2020, the ADL trained staff to edit Wikipedia pages, but after the project caused Wikipedia editors to criticize this as a [[Conflict-of-interest editing on Wikipedia|conflict of interest]], the ADL said it suspended the project in April 2021. At the time, the ADL was considered a [[Wikipedia:Reliable sources|reliable source]] on Wikipedia, and the ADL said its staff complied with Wikipedia policies by disclosing their affiliations, but some Wikipedia editors objected that the project cited ADL sources disproportionately and did not reflect the volunteer spirit of the website, especially in heavily editing its own Wikipedia article.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rosenfeld |first1=Arno |date=April 9, 2021 |title=ADL may have violated Wikipedia rules — editing its own entries |url=https://forward.com/news/467423/adl-may-have-violated-wikipedia-rules-editing-its-own-entries/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210409122306/https://forward.com/news/467423/adl-may-have-violated-wikipedia-rules-editing-its-own-entries/ |archive-date=April 9, 2021 |access-date=30 January 2023 |website=[[The Forward]]}}</ref>

An internal email obtained by [[The Guardian|''The Guardian'']] in 2024 showed that in May 2020, the ADL had surveilled and produced a "threat assessment" report on a Black [[Indianapolis]] activist who worked with the [[Deadly Exchange]] campaign in opposition to exchange programs between American and Israeli police. The email contained a photo and personal information about the activist. The ADL employee who shared the email with The Guardian said that "threat assessments" are conducted regularly by the ADL and that many staff members opposed the spying.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Perkins |first=Tom |date=2024-07-08 |title=Internal memo reveals Anti-Defamation League surveillance of leftwing activist |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/08/anti-defamation-league-surveillance |access-date=2024-07-09 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

In early January 2021, the ADL called for the removal of Donald Trump as president in response to the [[2021 storming of the United States Capitol|storming of the United States Capitol]] and described the relationship of the storming of the Capitol to the far-right and antisemitic groups.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kampeas|first=Ron|date=January 9, 2021|title=Anti-Defamation League calls for Trump's removal from the presidency|url=https://www.jpost.com/international/anti-defamation-league-calls-for-trumps-removal-from-the-presidency-654799|access-date=January 16, 2021|website=Jerusalem Post|archive-date=January 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119072305/https://www.jpost.com/international/anti-defamation-league-calls-for-trumps-removal-from-the-presidency-654799|url-status=live}}</ref> In April 2021, Jonathan Greenblatt released a letter calling on the right-wing American network [[Fox News]] to drop commentator [[Tucker Carlson]] from its lineup, saying that Carlson had espoused the [[white genocide conspiracy theory]] on his show.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Benveniste |first1=Alexis |title=Anti-Defamation League CEO: Fox needs to rethink its entire primetime lineup |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/11/media/adl-ceo-fox-news-lineup/index.html |access-date=April 25, 2021 |work=CNN |date=April 11, 2021 |archive-date=April 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425154248/https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/11/media/adl-ceo-fox-news-lineup/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Cameron-2021">{{cite news |last1=Cameron |first1=Chris |title=The Anti-Defamation League calls for Tucker Carlson to be fired over 'replacement theory' remarks. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/us/tucker-carlson-adl-replacement-theory.html |work=The New York Times |date=April 9, 2021 |access-date=April 25, 2021 |archive-date=April 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423193219/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/us/tucker-carlson-adl-replacement-theory.html |url-status=live }}</ref> This call appeared shortly after research indicating that many who participated in the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol had been influenced by this conspiracy theory.<ref name="Cameron-2021" /> The ADL again called for Carlson to be fired in September 2021 following Carlson expressing support for the [[Great Replacement conspiracy theory in the United States|great replacement]] theory.<ref name="Pengelly-2021">{{cite news |last1=Pengelly |first1=Martin |title=Fresh calls for Fox News to fire Tucker Carlson over 'replacement theory' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/sep/25/tucker-carlson-fox-news-anti-defamation-league |access-date=22 October 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=September 25, 2021 |archive-date=May 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516145312/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/sep/25/tucker-carlson-fox-news-anti-defamation-league |url-status=live }}</ref> Carlson responded, saying "Fuck them" regarding the ADL, describing the ADL's call as politically motivated and defending his statements.<ref name="Pengelly-2021" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Schwartz |first1=Ian |title=Tucker Carlson Responds To Condemnation From Anti-Defamation League: "F*ck Them" |url=https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2021/09/24/tucker_carlson_responds_to_condemnation_from_anti-defamation_league_fuck_them.html |access-date=22 October 2021 |work=RealClearPolitics |date=September 24, 2021 |archive-date=October 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021042414/https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2021/09/24/tucker_carlson_responds_to_condemnation_from_anti-defamation_league_fuck_them.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2023, Fox dropped Carlson, a move welcomed by ADL leadership.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lapin |first1=Andrew |title=ADL cheers Tucker Carlson's ouster at Fox News, where he had long embraced white nationalist rhetoric |url=https://www.jta.org/2023/04/24/united-states/adl-cheers-tucker-carlsons-ouster-at-fox-news-where-he-had-long-embraced-white-nationalist-rhetoric |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=April 24, 2023 |access-date=April 25, 2023 |archive-date=April 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425214416/https://www.jta.org/2023/04/24/united-states/adl-cheers-tucker-carlsons-ouster-at-fox-news-where-he-had-long-embraced-white-nationalist-rhetoric |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bidgood |first1=Jess |title=Tucker Carlson's hold on the GOP and role in the disinformation business isn't going anywhere |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/tucker-carlson-s-hold-on-the-gop-and-role-in-the-disinformation-business-isn-t-going-anywhere/ar-AA1ahVmM |work=Boston Globe |date=April 24, 2023 |via=MSN |access-date=April 25, 2023 |archive-date=April 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425221004/https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/tucker-carlson-s-hold-on-the-gop-and-role-in-the-disinformation-business-isn-t-going-anywhere/ar-AA1ahVmM |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2022, the ADL revised its 2020 definition of [[racism]] from "the marginalization and/or oppression of people of color based on a socially constructed racial hierarchy that privileges White people" to occurrence "when individuals or institutions show more favorable evaluation or treatment of an individual or group based on race or ethnicity."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chavez |first=Nicole |date=2022-02-04 |title=Anti-Defamation League revised its definition of racism because it was 'so narrow' |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/04/us/anti-defamation-league-racism-definition/index.html |access-date=2024-06-21 |website=CNN |archive-date=November 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118074251/https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/04/us/anti-defamation-league-racism-definition/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Also in 2022, the ADL published an analysis of a leaked list of members of [[Oath Keepers]], an American far-right, anti-government militia. Of 38,000 names on that list, the ADL identified "at least 373 Oath Keepers currently serving in law enforcement", plus 117 active duty military, and 1,100 former law enforcement officers.<ref><!--Hoffman, Bruce; Ware, Jacob (2024) God, Guns, and Sedition: Far-Right Terrorism in America (Columbia University Press)-->{{cite Q|Q130315309|page=241}}</ref>
 	
In November 2022, the ADL acquired JLens, a pro-Israel advocacy group started in 2012 which campaigns against incentives for economic disengagement with Israel in [[environmental, social, and corporate governance]] (ESG) investing guidelines. JLens publishes company rankings based on participation in boycotts of Israel and publishes guidelines on investing used by around 30 Jewish companies with portfolios totaling around $200 million. JLens launched a campaign criticizing [[Morningstar, Inc.]]), a campaign the ADL collaborated on prior to the 2020 acquisition. The ADL said it would contribute funding to JLens.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Elia-Shalev |first1=Asaf |title=Anti-Defamation League acquires Jewish investment watchdog to fight threats to Israel on Wall Street |url=https://www.jta.org/2022/11/10/united-states/anti-defamation-league-muscles-up-to-fight-threats-to-israel-on-wall-street |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |access-date=9 January 2023 |date=10 November 2022 |archive-date=January 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109165227/https://www.jta.org/2022/11/10/united-states/anti-defamation-league-muscles-up-to-fight-threats-to-israel-on-wall-street |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Shalev |first1=Asaf |title=A new BDS battlefront emerges in investing world, with spotlight on Morningstar |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/a-new-bds-battlefront-emerges-in-investing-world-with-spotlight-on-morningstar/ |website=Times of Israel |agency=JTA |access-date=9 January 2023 |date=9 February 2022 |archive-date=January 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109165221/https://www.timesofisrael.com/a-new-bds-battlefront-emerges-in-investing-world-with-spotlight-on-morningstar/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The ADL tracked rapid growth in hate speech and harassment on [[Twitter]] after [[Elon Musk]] bought the social network in 2022.<ref name="Kampeas-2023" /><ref name="Valinsky-2023" /> In early September 2023, Musk liked and replied to a tweet by the Irish white nationalist Keith Woods that called for banning the ADL from X, which was Twitter's new name under Musk.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Dwoskin |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Oremus |first2=Will |date=2023-09-14 |title=Musk expected to meet with Netanyahu as antisemitism controversy rages |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/09/14/musk-antisemitism-x-twitter-adl-netanyahu/ |access-date=2024-01-27 |newspaper=Washington Post |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=February 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240207213939/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/09/14/musk-antisemitism-x-twitter-adl-netanyahu/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Jason |date=2023-11-21 |title=Rightwing personalities use X to bring antisemitic theories to light in US |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/nov/21/great-replacement-theory-antisemitism-racism-rightwing-mainstream |access-date=2024-01-27 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621214728/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/nov/21/great-replacement-theory-antisemitism-racism-rightwing-mainstream |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Kampeas-2023">{{Cite web|last=Kampeas|first=Ron|date=September 4, 2023|title=Elon Musk is amplifying a self-declared antisemite's call to ban the ADL from X|url=https://www.jta.org/2023/09/03/politics/elon-musk-is-amplifying-a-self-declared-antisemites-call-to-ban-the-adl-from-x|access-date=September 4, 2023|website=Jewish Telegraph Agence|archive-date=September 4, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230904004836/https://www.jta.org/2023/09/03/politics/elon-musk-is-amplifying-a-self-declared-antisemites-call-to-ban-the-adl-from-x|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Novak |first=Matt |title=Elon Musk Promotes Campaign To Ban ADL While Agreeing With 'Raging Anti-Semite' |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2023/09/04/elon-musk-promotes-campaign-to-ban-adl-while-agreeing-with-raging-anti-semite/ |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=Forbes |archive-date=September 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230905173031/https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2023/09/04/elon-musk-promotes-campaign-to-ban-adl-while-agreeing-with-raging-anti-semite/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-09-04 |title=Musk Fuels White Supremacist 'Ban the ADL' Campaign on Social Media |url=https://www.algemeiner.com/2023/09/04/musk-fuels-white-supremacist-ban-adl-campaign-social-media/ |access-date=2023-09-05 |website= Algemeiner.com |archive-date=September 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230905173032/https://www.algemeiner.com/2023/09/04/musk-fuels-white-supremacist-ban-adl-campaign-social-media/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Musk also accused the ADL of defamation and threatened to sue it, writing that advertising revenue was "still down 60%, primarily due to pressure on advertisers by @ADL (that's what advertisers tell us), so they almost succeeded in killing X/Twitter!" The ADL said as matter of policy it did not comment on legal threats, but that it had recently met with X leadership including CEO [[Linda Yaccarino]], who had thanked the ADL's CEO on the platform.<ref name="Valinsky-2023">{{Cite web |last=Valinsky |first=Jordan |date=2023-09-05 |title=Elon Musk blames the ADL for 60% ad sales decline at X, threatens to sue |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/05/tech/elon-musk-adl-lawsuit/index.html |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=CNN |archive-date=September 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929031925/https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/05/tech/elon-musk-adl-lawsuit/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Greenblatt later praised Musk after he announced policy banning phrases such as "[[decolonization]]" and "[[from the river to the sea]]" on Twitter.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lanard |first=Noah |title=Days after he endorsed an antisemitic tweet, the ADL praises Elon Musk's clampdown on Palestinian speech. |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/elon-musk-river-sea-antidefamation-league/ |access-date=2023-11-20 |website=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |archive-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119073700/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/11/elon-musk-river-sea-antidefamation-league/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Heer |first=Jeet |date=2023-11-20 |title=Why the Anti-Defamation League Loves Certain Bigots |work=[[The Nation]] |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/anti-defamation-league-musk-israel/ |access-date=2023-11-20 |issn=0027-8378 |archive-date=November 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120150819/https://www.thenation.com/article/society/anti-defamation-league-musk-israel/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Musk: Terms Such as 'Decolonization' and 'From the River to the Sea' Will Result in Suspension From X |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2023-11-18/ty-article/musk-decolonization-and-from-the-river-to-the-sea-will-result-in-suspension-from-x/0000018b-e2ce-dffa-adef-e6ce41b40000 |access-date=2023-11-20 |archive-date=November 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118210507/https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2023-11-18/ty-article/musk-decolonization-and-from-the-river-to-the-sea-will-result-in-suspension-from-x/0000018b-e2ce-dffa-adef-e6ce41b40000 |url-status=live }}</ref> The head of the ADL's Center for Technology and Society (CTS), Yael Eisenstat, reportedly quit in protest of the praise of Musk.<ref name="Jewish Currents-2024">{{cite web |date=4 January 2024 |title=Top Executive Leaves ADL Over CEO's Praise of Elon Musk |url=https://jewishcurrents.org/top-executive-leaves-adl-over-ceos-praise-of-elon-musk |accessdate=5 January 2024 |work=Jewish Currents |archive-date=January 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105163914/https://jewishcurrents.org/top-executive-leaves-adl-over-ceos-praise-of-elon-musk |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=21 December 2023 |title=At Leading Anti-Hate Group, Boss's Embrace of Elon Musk Raises Tensions |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/adl-elon-musk-controversy/ |access-date=5 January 2024 |work=Vice |archive-date=January 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105163915/https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxjkzm/adl-elon-musk-controversy |url-status=live }}</ref>

In September 2023, the ADL launched a media and entertainment institute aimed at combating antisemitism and improving depictions of Jewish people in entertainment. The institute works with industry leaders and non-profit organizations such as [[Common Sense Media]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sun |first=Rebecca |date=2023-09-12 |title=Anti-Defamation League Launches Media and Entertainment Institute |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/anti-defamation-league-media-entertainment-institute-1235588462/ |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |language=en-US |archive-date=February 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240222024204/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/anti-defamation-league-media-entertainment-institute-1235588462/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Littleton |first=Cynthia |date=2023-09-12 |title=ADL Launches Media and Entertainment Institute to Engage Hollywood Insiders on Antisemitism and Portrayals of Jewish Communities |url=https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/adl-antisemitism-entertainment-institute-greenblatt-1235720529/ |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=Variety |language=en-US |archive-date=May 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240524163409/https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/adl-antisemitism-entertainment-institute-greenblatt-1235720529/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In February 2024, the institute appointed documentary producer and journalist Deborah Camiel as its leader.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sun |first=Rebecca |date=2024-02-21 |title=Anti-Defamation League Appoints Documentarian Deborah Camiel to Lead Media and Entertainment Institute (Exclusive) |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/adl-media-entertainment-institute-deborah-camiel-1235830905/ |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref>

In December 2023, ADL staff were informed that the [[anti-bias education]] program A World of Difference (AWOD) was ended. The program was founded in 1985 to address bias in all forms and was integrated into school curricula both in the United States and internationally. Curricula materials and other anti-bias resources were removed from the website. Staff members were either laid off or re-assigned to antisemitism education.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kane |first=Alex |date=March 27, 2025 |title=ADL Shutters Flagship Anti-Bias Program |url=https://jewishcurrents.org/adl-shutters-flagship-anti-bias-program |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=Jewish Currents |language=en}}</ref>

At the 2024 conference, the ADL presented [[Jared Kushner]] an award for his work brokering the [[Abraham Accords]] for the [[First Trump administration]]. The decision was criticized by both ADL supporters and board members.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Esensten |first=Andrew |date=2024-03-07 |title=ADL chief defends honoring Jared Kushner, acknowledges blowback at annual summit |url=https://jweekly.com/2024/03/07/adl-chief-defends-honoring-jared-kushner-acknowledges-blowback-at-annual-summit/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241209022603/https://jweekly.com/2024/03/07/adl-chief-defends-honoring-jared-kushner-acknowledges-blowback-at-annual-summit/ |archive-date=2024-12-09 |access-date=2025-03-28 |work=J. |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Political positions ==
===Israel===
The ADL is described as a pro-Israel group.<ref>{{cite web |date=4 September 2013 |title=Pro-Israel groups publicly back U.S. action in Syria |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-usa-israel/pro-israel-groups-publicly-back-u-s-action-in-syria-idUSBRE98213V20130903 |accessdate=4 September 2023 |work=Reuters |archive-date=September 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230904134532/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-usa-israel/pro-israel-groups-publicly-back-u-s-action-in-syria-idUSBRE98213V20130903 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Middle East historian [[Asaf Romirowsky]] described the organization as "left of center" politically.<ref name="Bandler-2024">{{Cite web |last=Bandler |first=Aaron |date=2024-06-21 |title=Wikipedia Editors Label ADL Only Reliable for Antisemitism When "Israel and Zionism Are Not Concerned" |url=https://jewishjournal.com/news/united-states/372532/wikipedia-editors-label-adl-only-reliable-for-antisemitism-when-israel-and-zionism-are-not-concerned/ |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=Jewish Journal |language=en-US |archive-date=June 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240622020506/https://jewishjournal.com/news/united-states/372532/wikipedia-editors-label-adl-only-reliable-for-antisemitism-when-israel-and-zionism-are-not-concerned/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The ADL has taken a case-by-case approach to state [[anti-BDS laws]] enacted in response to the [[Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions|BDS movement]]. Several of these laws, which seek to prohibit state agencies and instrumentalities from investing in companies that boycott Israel and from entering into contracts with entities that boycott Israel, have been successfully challenged in the courts. The legal challenges have primarily been brought by the [[American Civil Liberties Union|ACLU]] and [[Council on American–Islamic Relations|CAIR]] on First Amendment constitutional grounds.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/26/us/texas-bds-law/index.html|first=Joe|last=Sterling|title=Texas has a law that says contractors can't boycott Israel. But a federal judge just blocked it|access-date=March 28, 2020|publisher=CNN|date=April 26, 2019|archive-date=June 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605031318/https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/26/us/texas-bds-law/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|first=Brian|last=Hauss|date=April 16, 2019|url=https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech/arizona-lawmakers-running-scared-after-anti-boycott-law-ruled-unconstitutional|title=Arizona Lawmakers Running Scared After Anti-Boycott Law Ruled Unconstitutional|access-date=March 28, 2020|work=ACLU blog |archive-date=February 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200214035621/https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech/arizona-lawmakers-running-scared-after-anti-boycott-law-ruled-unconstitutional|url-status=live}}</ref> As a general matter the organization also has not publicly opposed such state laws, preferring to work behind the scenes to try to make such laws less infirm under the Constitution or to propose non-binding resolutions opposing BDS. A possible division of internal views in the ADL was disclosed when the liberal Jewish publication, ''[[The Forward]]'', published ostensible leaked internal ADL staff memos dating from 2016 that opposed the anti-boycott laws.<ref name="Nathan-Kazis-2018">{{cite news |last1=Nathan-Kazis |first1=Josh |title=REVEALED: Secret ADL Memo Slammed Anti-BDS Laws As 'Harmful' To Jews |url=https://forward.com/news/416030/revealed-secret-adl-memo-slammed-anti-bds-laws-as-harmful-to-jews/ |work=The Forward |date=December 13, 2018 |access-date=March 28, 2020 |archive-date=May 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200525042943/https://forward.com/news/416030/revealed-secret-adl-memo-slammed-anti-bds-laws-as-harmful-to-jews/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The ADL did not comment directly on the leaked memos, but the statement it issued in response appeared to acknowledge both that there were sharply divided views within the organization and that the organization did not try to suppress internal robust discussion.<ref name="Nathan-Kazis-2018" />

In 2010, the ADL published a list of the "ten leading organizations responsible for maligning Israel in the US," which has included [[ANSWER]], the [[International Solidarity Movement]], and [[Jewish Voice for Peace]] for its call for BDS.<ref>{{cite news |last=Benhorin |first=Yitzhak |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3969798,00.html |title=Jewish group makes ADL blacklist |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017220700/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3969798,00.html |archive-date=October 17, 2010 |work=ynet news |date=October 15, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> The ADL published a similar list in 2013.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Eidelson |first1=Josh |title=Anti-Defamation League slams Jewish groups for Israel criticism |url=https://www.salon.com/2013/10/22/anti_defamation_league_slams_jewish_groups_for_israel_criticism/ |work=Salon |date=October 22, 2013 |access-date=May 27, 2021 |archive-date=March 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318163310/https://www.salon.com/2013/10/22/anti_defamation_league_slams_jewish_groups_for_israel_criticism/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Alongside similar statements from StandWithUs and American Jewish Committee representatives, Greenblatt condemned the [[United Nations Human Rights Council]]'s (UNHRC) list of companies doing business with [[Israeli settlements|Jewish settlements]] in [[Israeli-occupied territories]], issued in February 2020, calling it a "blacklist".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bandler |first1=Aaron |title=UNHRC Releases 'Blacklist' of Companies Conducting Business in Israeli Settlements |url=https://jewishjournal.com/news/world/310631/unhrc-releases-blacklist-of-companies-conducting-business-in-israeli-settlements |work=Jewish Journal |date=February 12, 2020 |access-date=March 28, 2020 |archive-date=March 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328193741/https://jewishjournal.com/news/world/310631/unhrc-releases-blacklist-of-companies-conducting-business-in-israeli-settlements/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The ADL expressed concern over Israeli legislative proposals requiring that NGOs publicize if they receive funding primarily from non-Israeli governments, a bill mostly opposed by centrist and left-wing and supported by right-wing Jewish American groups.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/reform-joins-adl-ajc-in-opposing-israels-ngo-bill/|title=Reform joins ADL, AJC in opposing Israel's NGO bill|website=[[The Times of Israel]]|access-date=February 5, 2016|archive-date=February 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160217180518/http://www.timesofisrael.com/reform-joins-adl-ajc-in-opposing-israels-ngo-bill/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2022, the ADL criticized the government formed by [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] in [[Thirty-seventh government of Israel|his sixth term]], which included representatives from the far-right [[Otzma Yehudit]] and [[Religious Zionist Party]], and their leaders, [[Itamar Ben-Gvir]] and [[Bezalel Smotrich]]. The ADL said that including these parties and lawmakers "would run counter to Israel's founding principles, and impact its standing, even among its strongest supporters."<ref>{{cite web |title=ADL says including far right in next government will hurt country globally |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/adl-says-including-far-right-in-next-government-will-hurt-country-globally/ |website=The Times of Israel |access-date=9 January 2023 |date=3 November 2022 |archive-date=January 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109172808/https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/adl-says-including-far-right-in-next-government-will-hurt-country-globally/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Federman |first1=Josef |title=Jewish Americans express alarm over expected Israeli government |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/jewish-americans-express-alarm-over-expected-israeli-government |website=[[Associated Press]] |access-date=9 January 2023 |date=7 December 2022 |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621215236/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/jewish-americans-express-alarm-over-expected-israeli-government |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Anti-Zionism and antisemitism===
{{See also|Anti-Zionism}}

In a 2022 speech to ADL leaders, Greenblatt said that "[[anti-Zionism]] is antisemitism".<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Chotiner |first1=Isaac |date=11 May 2022 |title=Is Anti-Zionism Anti-Semitism? |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/is-anti-zionism-anti-semitism |access-date=9 January 2023 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |archive-date=January 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109171432/https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/is-anti-zionism-anti-semitism |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[The Times of Israel]]'' noted that the "speech marked a rare moment of the organization unequivocally" making that assertion.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kampeas |first1=Ron |date=2 May 2022 |title=ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt equates anti-Zionist rhetoric with antisemitism |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/adl-ceo-jonathan-greenblatt-equates-anti-zionist-rhetoric-with-antisemitism/ |access-date=9 January 2023 |website=[[The Times of Israel]] |archive-date=January 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109171431/https://www.timesofisrael.com/adl-ceo-jonathan-greenblatt-equates-anti-zionist-rhetoric-with-antisemitism/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The remarks upset activists and Jewish groups critical of Israel, and also set off controversy within the ADL.<ref name="Guyer-2024">{{cite web |last1=Guyer |first1=Jonathan |last2=Perkins |first2=Tom |date=5 January 2024 |title=Anti-Defamation League staff decry 'dishonest' campaign against Israel critics |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2024/jan/05/adl-pro-israel-advocacy-zionism-antisemitism |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510035021/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2024/jan/05/adl-pro-israel-advocacy-zionism-antisemitism |archive-date=May 10, 2024 |accessdate=5 January 2024 |work=[[The Guardian]] |quote=Critics of the group argue that these and other actions risk undermining the civil rights organization’s counter-extremism work and say the group has foregone much of its historical mission to fight antisemitism in favor of doing advocacy for Israel ... The ADL and many other Jewish establishment organizations have been pushing for years for governments to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition, which defines some criticisms of Israel, and anti-Zionism in particular, as antisemitic.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=Mari |last2=Kane |first2=Alex |date=2023-03-08 |title=ADL Staffers Dissented After CEO Compared Palestinian Rights Groups to Right-Wing Extremists, Leaked Audio Reveals |url=https://jewishcurrents.org/adl-staffers-dissented-after-ceo-compared-palestinian-rights-groups-to-right-wing-extremists-leaked-audio-reveals |access-date=2024-08-10 |website=[[Jewish Currents]] |language=en |quote=TRANSCRIPT OF MAY 2022 ADL MEETING ... |archive-date=May 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527193034/https://jewishcurrents.org/adl-staffers-dissented-after-ceo-compared-palestinian-rights-groups-to-right-wing-extremists-leaked-audio-reveals |url-status=live }}</ref> Internal ADL messages seen by ''The Guardian'' included a senior manager at the ADL's Center on Extremism writing in protest that: "There is no comparison between white supremacists and insurrectionists and those who espouse anti-Israel rhetoric, and to suggest otherwise is both intellectually dishonest and damaging to our reputation as experts in extremism."<ref name="Guyer-2024"/> The newspaper reported that the speech, which "put opposition to Israel on a par with white supremacy as a source of antisemitism", had sparked controversy.<ref name="Guyer-2024" />

In January 2024, two-thirds of the ADL's tally of more than 3,283 antisemitic incidents in the United States since October 7, 2023, were tied to the [[Gaza war]]; ''[[The Forward]]'' said the ADL acknowledged "that it significantly broadened its definition of antisemitic incidents following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack to include rallies that feature 'anti-Zionist chants and slogans,' events that appear to account for around 1,317 of the total count".<ref>{{cite web |last=Rosenfeld |first=Arno |date=10 January 2024 |title=ADL counts 3,000 antisemitic incidents since Oct. 7, two-thirds tied to Israel |url=https://forward.com/news/575687/anti-defamation-league-adl-antisemitism-count-anti-zionism/ |accessdate=14 January 2024 |work=[[The Forward]] |archive-date=June 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240629034642/https://forward.com/news/575687/anti-defamation-league-adl-antisemitism-count-anti-zionism/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chavez |first=Nicole |date=2024-01-10 |title=ADL records more than 3,200 antisemitic incidents since start of Israel-Hamas war |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/10/us/adl-antisemitism-reports-soar-reaj/index.html |access-date=2024-04-05 |website=CNN |archive-date=April 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405071238/https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/10/us/adl-antisemitism-reports-soar-reaj/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The ADL classified anti-war protest events led by Jewish groups including [[Jewish Voice for Peace]] and [[IfNotNow]] as "anti-Israel", adding the protests to a database documenting rising antisemitism in the US. In response, an ADL staffer quit, who told ''The Guardian'' that "These were Jewish people who we [as the ADL] were defaming, so that felt extremely, extremely confusing, and frustrating to me. And it makes it harder to talk about that when any [[criticism of Israel]], or anyone who criticizes Israel, just becomes a terrorist."<ref name="Guyer-2024"/> The ADL told ''[[The Intercept]]'' that it did not consider the protests antisemitic, but Greenblatt labelled the protesting groups as hate groups.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lee |first=Micah |date=November 11, 2023 |title=Anti-Defamation League Maps Jewish Peace Rallies with Antisemitic Attacks |url=https://theintercept.com/2023/11/11/palestine-israel-protests-ceasefire-antisemitic/ |work=[[The Intercept]] |publisher= |access-date=November 12, 2023 |archive-date=November 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231112091414/https://theintercept.com/2023/11/11/palestine-israel-protests-ceasefire-antisemitic/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Former staff told ''[[The Daily Beast]]'' in 2023 of dissent within the ADL over the increasing equation of anti-Zionism and antisemitism, and over Greenblatt's calls for bans and investigations of pro-Palestinian organizations that he alleged had supported terrorist groups.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Weill |first=Kelly |date=2023-11-22 |title=Dissent Over Zionism Is Splitting the ADL From Within: Ex-Staff |work=The Daily Beast |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/anti-defamation-league-ex-staff-decry-ceo-jonathan-greenblatts-stance-on-ceasefire-rallies |access-date=2023-11-27 |archive-date=November 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231127071537/https://www.thedailybeast.com/anti-defamation-league-ex-staff-decry-ceo-jonathan-greenblatts-stance-on-ceasefire-rallies |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Dickson-2023" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://theintercept.com/2024/02/21/adl-palestine-terrorism-legislation|title=How the ADL's Anti-Palestinian Advocacy Helped Shape US Terror Laws|work=The Intercept|accessdate=23 March 2024|date=21 February 2024|archive-date=March 23, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240323100011/https://theintercept.com/2024/02/21/adl-palestine-terrorism-legislation/|url-status=live}}</ref> In early 2024, two ADL staff quit the group in response to its pro-Israel advocacy during the war.<ref name="Guyer-2024" />

The ADL supported a December 5, 2023, US Congress resolution that described anti-Zionism as antisemitism.<ref name="Guyer-2024" /> The ADL and "many other Jewish establishment organizations" have campaigned for governments to adopt the [[International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance]] definition of antisemitism, which describes anti-Zionism and some forms of criticism of Israel as antisemitic, according to ''The Guardian''.<ref name="Guyer-2024" /> Some Jewish organizations, such as the [[Nexus Task Force]], whose work was welcomed by the [[U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism]], take a different view.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jacoby |first=Jonathan |date=2022-10-26 |title=The mistake in equating right-wing and left-wing antisemitism |url=https://forward.com/opinion/522629/the-mistake-in-equating-right-wing-and-left-wing-antisemitism/ |access-date=2024-06-20 |work=[[The Forward]] |archive-date=May 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240501092316/https://forward.com/opinion/522629/the-mistake-in-equating-right-wing-and-left-wing-antisemitism/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jacoby |first=Jonathan |date=2022-05-04 |title=Is it antisemitic to be anti-Zionist? |url=https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/is-it-antisemitic-to-be-anti-zionist/ |access-date=2024-06-20 |website=[[The Times of Israel]] |archive-date=June 20, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240620120653/https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/is-it-antisemitic-to-be-anti-zionist/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jacoby |first=Jonathan |date=2024-01-18 |title=An open letter to Jonathan Greenblatt, National Director and CEO of the ADL |url=https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/an-open-letter-to-jonathan-greenblatt-national-director-and-ceo-of-the-adl/ |access-date=2024-06-20 |website=[[The Times of Israel]] |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303100640/https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/an-open-letter-to-jonathan-greenblatt-national-director-and-ceo-of-the-adl/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Critics of the ADL said that such advocacy for Israel had undermined the group's counter-extremism work and argued that it had foregone parts of its historical mission against antisemitism.<ref name="Guyer-2024"/> In 2024, an article in ''[[The Nation]]'' said, "The ADL's priority today remains—as it has for decades—going after Americans who are simply opposed to Israel's endless occupation and oppression of Palestinians", and criticized what it described as US media outlets using ADL reports on antisemitism uncritically.<ref name="The Nation-2024"/> Middle East historian [[Asaf Romirowsky]] said that because the ADL's clear stance on antisemitism does not conform to the "orthodoxy of the day", it has led to the discredition of the group whose purpose is to combat antisemitism.<ref name="Bandler-2024"/> [[Jay Michaelson]] argues that "conflating real antisemitism with political disagreement" cheapens the term 'antisemitism' to the point of "rendering it almost meaningless."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://forward.com/opinion/642246/walz-shapiro-vp-antisemitism-baiting-kamala-harris/|title=Responding to Walz pick, the Right resorts to antisemitism-baiting|date=August 8, 2024|website=[[The Forward]]|last=Michaelson|first=Jay|quote=First, it cheapens the term, rendering it almost meaningless. When the Anti-Defamation League redefines the term ‘antisemitism’ to include any anti-Zionist protest, its own data — which used to be the authoritative reference for tracking this noxious bigotry — now becomes unreliable. When the word is used any time someone says or does something that an Israeli nationalist dislikes, it becomes just another meaningless political term, like ‘woke’ — or, in some liberal misuses of the term, ‘fascist.’}}</ref>

A June 2024 [[Jewish Currents|''Jewish Currents'']] analysis of the ADL's April antisemitism audit found that of the incidents the ADL counted as antisemitic, only 56% were unambiguously antisemitic. ''Jewish Currents'' also noted that white nationalist leader [[Nick Fuentes]] only appeared once in the audit, and concluded that the ADL's "haphazard" approach "renders the audit unable to speak meaningfully to the prevalence or impact of antisemitism in the US. It remains an open question whether a sufficiently sophisticated methodology might produce a more reliable picture, and thus aid the task of combating antisemitism. But it is abundantly clear that the ADL's audit and its uncritical representation in the media do not serve those aims."<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Burley |first1=Shane |last2=Bennet |first2=Naomi |date=June 17, 2024 |title=Examining the ADL's Antisemitism Audit |url=https://jewishcurrents.org/examining-the-adls-antisemitism-audit |access-date=2025-06-01 |website=Jewish Currents |language=en}}</ref>

=== New antisemitism ===
{{main|New antisemitism}}

In 1974, ADL attorney [[Arnold Forster (ADL)|Arnold Forster]] and national director [[Benjamin Epstein]] published the book ''The New Anti-Semitism''. They expressed concern about what they described as new manifestations of antisemitism coming from radical left, radical right, and pro-Arab figures in the US.<ref>Forster, Arnold & Epstein, Benjamin, ''The New Anti-Semitism''. McGraw-Hill 1974, p.165. See for instance chapters entitled "[[Gerald L. K. Smith|Gerald Smith]]'s Road" (19–48), "The Radical Right" (285–296), "Arabs and Pro-Arabs" (155–174), "The Radical Left" (125–154)</ref> Forster and Epstein argued that radical left antisemitism took the form of indifference to the fears of the Jewish people, apathy in dealing with anti-Jewish bias, and an inability to understand the importance of Israel to Jewish survival.<ref>Forster, Arnold & Epstein, Benjamin, ''The New Anti-Semitism''. McGraw-Hill 1974, p. 324.</ref> A subsequent book, ''The Real Anti-Semitism in America'', published in 1982, was written by ADL national leader Nathan Perlmutter and his wife, Ruth Ann Perlmutter.<ref name="Jewish Telegraphic Agency-1987" />

Reviewing Forster and Epstein's work in 1974 for the [[neoconservative]] magazine ''[[Commentary (magazine)|Commentary]]'', Earl Raab, founding director of the Nathan Perlmutter Institute for Jewish Advocacy at [[Brandeis University]], agreed that a "new anti-Semitism" was indeed emerging in America in the form of opposition to the supposed collective rights of the Jewish people, but Raab criticized Forster and Epstein for "stretch[ing] the word in practice to mean anti-Israel bias in general".<ref name="Raab-1974">{{cite magazine |last=Raab |first=Earl |date=May 1974 |title=Is there a New Anti-Semitism? |url=https://www.commentary.org/articles/earl-raab-2/is-there-a-new-anti-semitism/ |url-status=live |magazine=[[Commentary magazine]] |pages=53–54 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201144943/https://www.commentary.org/articles/earl-raab-2/is-there-a-new-anti-semitism/ |archive-date=December 1, 2021}}</ref> Allan Brownfeld, a columnist with ''The Lincoln Review'', wrote in the ''[[Journal of Palestine Studies]]'' 1987 that Forster and Epstein's new definition of antisemitism trivialized the concept by turning it into "a form of political blackmail" and "a weapon with which to silence any criticism of either Israel or US policy in the Middle East,"<ref>{{cite journal |last=Brownfeld |first=Allan |year=1987 |title=Anti-Semitism: Its Changing Meaning |journal=[[Journal of Palestine Studies]] |publisher=[[Institute for Palestine Studies]] |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=53–67 |doi=10.2307/2536789 |issn=1533-8614 |jstor=2536789}}</ref> while [[Edward S. Shapiro]], in ''A Time for Healing: American Jewry Since World War II'', has written that, "Forster and Epstein implied that the new antisemitism was the inability of Gentiles to love Jews and Israel enough."<ref>{{cite book |last=Shapiro |first=Edward S. |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780801843471/page/47 |title=A Time for Healing: American Jewry Since World War II |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=1992 |isbn=0-8018-4347-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780801843471/page/47 47] |author-link=Edward S. Shapiro}}</ref>

In 2005, [[Norman Finkelstein]] wrote that organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League have brought forward charges of new antisemitism at various intervals since the 1970s, "not to fight antisemitism, but rather to exploit the historical suffering of Jews in order to immunize Israel against criticism."<ref>{{cite book |last=Finkelstein |first=Norman |title=Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History |title-link=Beyond Chutzpah |publisher=University of California Press |year=2005 |pages=21–22 |author-link=Norman Finkelstein}}</ref> ''[[The Washington Post]]'' reported in 2006 that the ADL had over the years repeatedly accused Finkelstein of being a "[[Holocaust denial|Holocaust denier]]", and that "these charges have proved baseless."<ref>{{cite news |last=Powell |first=Michael |date=October 9, 2006 |title=In N.Y., Sparks Fly Over Israel Criticism |pages=A03 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/08/AR2006100800817.html |url-status=live |access-date=August 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821144329/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/08/AR2006100800817.html |archive-date=August 21, 2017}}.</ref><ref>The terms the ADL website uses to describe Finkelstein are "an anti-Israel academic whose career has been marked by a vitriolic hatred of Zionism and Israel" ({{cite web |title=Former Depaul Professor, Norman Finkelstein to Speak at KinderUSA Fundraiser |url=https://chicago.adl.org/former-depaul-professor-norman-finkelstein-to-speak-at-kinderusa-fundraiser/ |access-date=9 July 2023 |website=chicago.adl.org/ |ref={{sfnref |chicago.adl.org}}}}  "anti-Israel academic" ({{cite web |date=17 November 2022 |title=Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP): What You Need to Know |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/jewish-voice-peace-jvp-what-you-need-know |access-date=9 July 2023 |website=ADL |ref={{sfnref | ADL | 2022}} |archive-date=July 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709214021/https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/jewish-voice-peace-jvp-what-you-need-know |url-status=live }}, {{cite web |date=20 May 2020 |title=Antisemitism and the Radical Anti-Israel Movement on U.S. Campuses, 2019 |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/report/antisemitism-and-radical-anti-israel-movement-us-campuses-2019 |access-date=9 July 2023 |website=ADL |ref={{sfnref | ADL | 2020}} |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621214903/https://www.adl.org/resources/report/antisemitism-and-radical-anti-israel-movement-us-campuses-2019 |url-status=live }}), "political scientist" ({{cite web |date=27 February 2020 |title=Antisemitism Uncovered: Myth – Jews Use Christian Blood for Religious Rituals |url=https://antisemitism.adl.org/blood/ |access-date=9 July 2023 |website=Antisemitism Uncovered |language=es |ref={{sfnref | Antisemitism Uncovered | 2020}} |archive-date=July 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709214021/https://antisemitism.adl.org/blood/ |url-status=live }}), "an anti-Israel speaker" ({{cite web |date=22 January 2014 |title=Ron Unz: Controversial Writer and Funder of Anti-israel Activists |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/news/ron-unz-controversial-writer-and-funder-anti-israel-activists |access-date=9 July 2023 |website=ADL |ref={{sfnref | ADL | 2014}} |archive-date=July 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709214022/https://www.adl.org/resources/news/ron-unz-controversial-writer-and-funder-anti-israel-activists |url-status=live }})</ref>

=== Circumcision ===
The ADL has opposed efforts in the US and in Europe to ban [[circumcision]] of minors on the grounds of parental and religious freedom, citing the importance of circumcision in Judaism and Islam.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Madrid |first1=Carolina |title=Jews, Muslims sue to block referendum on circumcision |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-circumcision-sanfrancisco-idUSTRE75M05120110623 |website=Reuters |access-date=September 22, 2020 |date=June 22, 2011 |archive-date=October 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001214734/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-circumcision-sanfrancisco-idUSTRE75M05120110623 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Harkov |first1=Lahav |title=Germany must pass law to protect circumcision |url=https://www.jpost.com/National-News/Germany-must-pass-law-to-protect-circumcision |work=The Jerusalem Post |access-date=September 22, 2020 |date=June 27, 2012 |archive-date=October 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001183134/https://www.jpost.com/National-News/Germany-must-pass-law-to-protect-circumcision |url-status=live }}</ref> The ADL has also criticized specific instances of anti-circumcision imagery, such as an anti-circumcision cartoon in the Norwegian newspaper ''[[Dagbladet]]''<ref>{{cite news |title=Jewish organizations slam circumcision cartoon |url=https://www.jpost.com/jewish-world/jewish-news/jewish-organizations-slam-circumcision-cartoon-314819 |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |access-date=September 22, 2020 |date=May 30, 2013 |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112034402/https://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Jewish-organizations-slam-circumcision-cartoon-314819 |url-status=live |agency=Jewish Telegraphic Agency}}</ref> and the comic book ''[[Foreskin Man]]''. Regarding the latter, Associate Regional Director Nancy Appel stated that while good people could disagree on the issue of circumcision, it was unacceptable to use antisemitic imagery within the debate.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Oster |first1=Marcy |title=Anti-circumcision cartoon called anti-Semitic |url=https://www.jta.org/2011/06/06/united-states/anti-circumcision-cartoon-called-anti-semitic |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |access-date=September 22, 2020 |date=June 6, 2011 |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126124919/https://www.jta.org/2011/06/06/united-states/anti-circumcision-cartoon-called-anti-semitic |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2018, Greenblatt sent [[Althing|Iceland's Parliament]] a letter regarding a proposed infant circumcision ban in that country, arguing that the ban should be rejected due to circumcision's religious significance and health benefits. Greenblatt also said that if the ban passed, the ADL would report on any celebration by antisemites and other extremists, asserting that this would deter tourism and harm Iceland's economy.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Greenblatt |first1=Jonathan A. |author-link1=Jonathan Greenblatt |title=Comments regarding: Þingskjal: 183–114. mál Umsögn um breytingu á almennum hegningarlögum nr. 19/1940 (bann við umskurði drengja) |url=https://www.althingi.is/altext/erindi/148/148-787.pdf |website=Alþingi |access-date=August 26, 2020 |archive-date=September 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922093925/https://www.althingi.is/altext/erindi/148/148-787.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The ''[[Reykjavík Grapevine]]'' described this letter as a threat.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Demurtas |first1=Alice |title=American Anti-Defamation League Threatens Iceland Because Of Circumcision Ban |url=https://grapevine.is/news/2018/03/22/american-anti-defamation-league-speaks-up-about-circumcision-ban/ |website=The Reykjavík Grapevine |publisher=Fröken Ltd. |access-date=August 25, 2020 |date=March 22, 2018 |archive-date=July 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712222106/https://grapevine.is/news/2018/03/22/american-anti-defamation-league-speaks-up-about-circumcision-ban/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Federal and state legislation ===
The ADL was among the lead organizations campaigning for thirteen years, ultimately successfully, for the [[Matthew Shepard Act|Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://law.duke.edu/news/michael-lieberman-81/|title=Michael Lieberman '81|website=Duke Law News Releases|access-date=March 28, 2020|archive-date=March 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328193846/https://law.duke.edu/news/michael-lieberman-81/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-loretta-e-lynch-hosts-63rd-annual-attorney-general-awards-honoring|title=Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch Hosts the 63rd Annual Attorney General Awards Honoring Department Employees and Others For Their Service|date=October 21, 2015|type=U.S. Department of Justice News Release|access-date=March 28, 2020|archive-date=March 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328193740/https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-loretta-e-lynch-hosts-63rd-annual-attorney-general-awards-honoring|url-status=live}}</ref> The hold-up in passing that law focused on the inclusion of the term "sexual orientation" as one of the bases that a crime could be deemed a hate crime.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/year-blaze-bernsteins-killing-parents-turn-alleged-hate/story?id=59754707|title=1 year after Blaze Bernstein's killing, parents look to turn alleged hate crime into 'movement of hope'|website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|date=December 30, 2018|access-date=April 1, 2020|archive-date=April 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429033814/https://abcnews.go.com/US/year-blaze-bernsteins-killing-parents-turn-alleged-hate/story?id=59754707|url-status=live}}</ref> The ADL also drafted the model hate crimes legislation in the 1980s; it serves as a model for the legislation that a majority of states have adopted.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/hate-crime-laws-dont-prevent-violence-against-lgbt-people/|title=Hate Crime Laws Don't Prevent Violence Against LGBT People: So why do many LGBT people, and others, feel so deeply about the need to have them?|journal=The Nation|date=October 2, 2013|last1=Bronski|first1=Michael|last2=Pellegrini|first2=Ann|last3=Amico|first3=Michael|access-date=March 29, 2020|archive-date=March 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329163617/https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/hate-crime-laws-dont-prevent-violence-against-lgbt-people/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2010, during a hearing for Florida House Bill 11 (Crimes Against Homeless Persons), which was to revise the list of offenses judged to be [[Hate crime laws in the United States|hate crimes]] in Florida by adding a person's homeless status,<ref>{{cite web| title = flhouse.gov HB 11 – Crimes Against Homeless Persons| url = http://flhouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=42143&| access-date = April 22, 2010| archive-date = July 21, 2011| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110721040919/http://flhouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=42143&| url-status = live}}</ref> the League lobbied against the bill, which subsequently passed in the House by a vote of 80 to 28 and was sent to the Senate,<ref>{{cite web| title = flhouse.gov HB 11 Apr 20 2010 – Voting record Florida House of Representatives| url = http://flhouse.gov/Sections/Bills/floorvote.aspx?VoteId=10836&BillId=42143&| access-date = April 22, 2010| archive-date = July 21, 2011| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110721040957/http://flhouse.gov/Sections/Bills/floorvote.aspx?VoteId=10836&BillId=42143&| url-status = live}}</ref> taking the position that adding more categories to the list would dilute the effectiveness of the law, which already includes race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and age.<ref>{{cite web| title = Homeless could be added to Florida's hate crimes law| website = [[Miami Herald]]| url = http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/21/1589541/homeless-could-be-added-to-floridas.html| access-date = April 22, 2010}} ''Miami Herald'', Miami Herald Media Co., April 21, 2010, by Lee Logan, Tallahassee Bureau: "During a committee hearing on the bill, the Anti-Defamation League spoke against the bill, arguing that adding more categories to the hate crimes law would dilute its effect. But lawmakers were swayed by arguments in favor of protecting the homeless."</ref>

The ADL supports [[Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007|Comprehensive]] and [[DREAM Act]] legislation that would provide conditional permanent residency to certain undocumented immigrants of good moral character who graduate from US high schools, arrived in the United States as minors, and lived in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill's enactment.<ref>{{cite news|title=Afirman que con el debate de reforma migratoria subieron los crímenes de odio|publisher=EFE News Services|date=January 25, 2013|quote= La Liga Antidifamación Judía ( ADL ) aseguró hoy que desde que se inició el debate sobre una reforma migratoria integral en Estados Unidos se ha registrado un aumento de los crímenes de odio contra los hispanos. ... Por su parte, el director del Departamento de Asuntos Legales de ADL, Steven Freeman, dijo a Efe que esta organización aboga por una reforma migratoria integral y el Dream Act}}</ref>

=== College classes and student organizations ===
In early 2023, the ADL unsuccessfully pressured [[Bard College]] to cancel a course called "[[Israel and apartheid|Apartheid]] in Israel-Palestine" taught by Jerusalem-based researcher [[Nathan Thrall]]. The course had also been objected to by an Israeli consul. Bard's president, [[Leon Botstein]], described the phone call with ADL CEO Greenblatt as "not civil".<ref>{{Cite news |last=McGreal |first=Chris |date=2023-11-08 |title=Israeli diplomat pressured US college to drop course on 'apartheid' debate|work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/08/israeli-diplomat-bard-college-apartheid-debate |access-date=2023-11-11 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621214729/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/08/israeli-diplomat-bard-college-apartheid-debate |url-status=live }}</ref>

In October 2023, the ADL sent letters to almost two hundred college presidents condemning [[Students for Justice in Palestine]] (SJP) chapters, encouraging college presidents to investigate the chapters and alleging that SJP may be funding or receiving funds from Hamas.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Green |first=Emma |date=2023-12-15 |title=How a Student Group Is Politicizing a Generation on Palestine |magazine=The New Yorker |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-education/how-a-generation-is-being-politicized-on-palestine |access-date=2023-12-18 |issn=0028-792X |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621214729/https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-education/how-a-generation-is-being-politicized-on-palestine |url-status=live }}</ref> National SJP denied the ADL's claims.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Valinsky |first=Jordan |date=2023-10-27 |title=Anti-Defamation League accuses pro-Palestine student groups of siding with terrorism|url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/27/business/adl-open-letter-colleges-spj/index.html |access-date=2024-06-21 |website=CNN |archive-date=January 6, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106013439/https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/27/business/adl-open-letter-colleges-spj/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Policing in the United States ===
ADL advocacy work extends into police trainings on antisemitism, hate crime reporting, and bias. The ADL has also given awards and honors to various people and agencies in law enforcement, including [[Raymond Kelly]] and [[William Bratton]] of [[NYPD]],<ref name="Hutt-2021" /> [[Houston Police Department|Houston Police]] chief [[Art Acevedo]],<ref>Targeted News Service. (June 3, 2019 Monday). Anti-Defamation League Honors Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo With Gorowitz Institute Service Award. Targeted News Service.</ref> and officers of [[St. Louis County Police Department]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cohn |first=Robert |date=2016-12-21 |title=ADL event pays tribute to Missouri law enforcement |url=https://stljewishlight.org/opinion/adl-event-pays-tribute-to-missouri-law-enforcement/ |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=St. Louis Jewish Light |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621215348/https://stljewishlight.org/opinion/adl-event-pays-tribute-to-missouri-law-enforcement/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Analysis of [[BlueLeaks]] files shows a strong relationship between the ADL and American law enforcement agencies, with the ADL being among a small group of community organizations that provide training or are consulted by law enforcement officers.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Jason |date=2023-12-08 |title=US police agencies took intelligence directly from IDF, leaked files show |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/08/us-police-agencies-idf-files-blueleaks |access-date=2023-12-13 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621215349/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/08/us-police-agencies-idf-files-blueleaks |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Delegations ====
The ADL facilitates [[Law enforcement in the United States|US police]] delegations to Israel and the National Counter-Terrorism Seminar. The focus is on [[counterterrorism]], tactics and strategies, and leadership. The ADL director of law enforcement initiatives expressed hope that Israeli police are seen as a model for police in the US, and says that police officers participating in trips to Israel "come back and they are Zionists." In addition to police agencies, participants in the program include leadership from [[Immigration Customs and Enforcement|ICE]], [[US Marshals]], and [[Naval Criminal Investigative Service]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hartman |first=Ben |date=2015-09-09 |title=American law enforcement learns anti-terror tactics from Israeli experts |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/american-law-enforcement-delegation-learn-anti-terror-tactics-from-israeli-experts-415757 |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=The Jerusalem Post |archive-date=December 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231213205602/https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/american-law-enforcement-delegation-learn-anti-terror-tactics-from-israeli-experts-415757 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The National Counter-Terrorism Seminar received wide attention following the [[Ferguson Uprising]] when it was revealed that former [[St. Louis County Police Department|St. Louis County Police]] chief Timothy Fitch was a previous participant, as well as leaders of other police forces that had demonstrated undue force and surveillance against civilians.<ref>{{Cite web |last=#teamEBONY |date=2014-08-19 |title=The Ferguson/Palestine Connection |url=https://www.ebony.com/the-fergusonpalestine-connection-403/ |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=EBONY |archive-date=December 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231213205603/https://www.ebony.com/the-fergusonpalestine-connection-403/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Deadly Exchange|Campaigns against the trips]], citing [[militarization of police]] concerns, were successful in [[Vermont]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Keays |first=Alan J. |date=2018-11-30 |title=State police leader backs out of training in Israel after blowback |url=http://vtdigger.org/2018/11/29/state-police-leader-backs-training-israel-blowback/ |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=VTDigger |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621215350/https://vtdigger.org/2018/11/29/state-police-leader-backs-training-israel-blowback/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Durham, North Carolina|Durham]], North Carolina.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Younes |first=Ali |title=US city bans police training with Israel |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/4/19/durham-first-us-city-to-ban-police-training-with-israeli-military |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=Al Jazeera |archive-date=December 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231213205602/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/4/19/durham-first-us-city-to-ban-police-training-with-israeli-military |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2020, the program was put on pause due to the associated costs and controversies. An internal memo opened questions as to the purpose and unintended impacts of the delegations, and recommended ending them altogether.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Kane |first1=Alex |last2=Levin |first2=Sam |date=March 17, 2022 |title=Internal ADL Memo Recommended Ending Police Delegations to Israel Amid Backlash |url=https://jewishcurrents.org/scoop-internal-adl-memo-recommended-ending-police-delegations-to-israel-amid-backlash |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=Jewish Currents |archive-date=December 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215190723/https://jewishcurrents.org/scoop-internal-adl-memo-recommended-ending-police-delegations-to-israel-amid-backlash |url-status=live }}</ref> The ADL told press that they intend to continue the program with revised curriculum and evaluation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=CRAMER |first=PHILISSA |date=2022-03-19 |title=ADL considered scrapping its US police training trips to Israel — but decided not to |url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-701730 |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=The Jerusalem Post |archive-date=June 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240625033631/https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-701730 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===South Africa and apartheid===
The ADL, the AJC, and other American Jewish groups asked [[Nelson Mandela]] to clarify his views on the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]] in 1990 in advance of a visit Mandela planned to the United States. The groups' leaders said they were concerned about the possibility of protests because Mandela had embraced [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] Chairman [[Yasser Arafat]] and Libyan president [[Muammar Gaddafi]]. The ADL said it was "disturbed and pained" by comments Mandela had made in a meeting earlier that year with PLO leader Yasser Arafat.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jewish Groups Question ANC Leader Over Israel |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/06/09/jewish-groups-question-anc-leader-over-israel/eef75c4e-73fd-46dd-92cc-a0db57caf6cb/ |accessdate=2023-03-26 |archive-date=July 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719020859/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/06/09/jewish-groups-question-anc-leader-over-israel/eef75c4e-73fd-46dd-92cc-a0db57caf6cb/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Mandela met with a group of the American Jewish leaders in [[Geneva]] including ADL director Abe Foxman. At the event, Mandela expressed appreciation for South African Jews who opposed [[apartheid]]; he praised past Israeli leader [[Golda Meir]] for her opposition to apartheid, and [[Menachem Begin]]'s book [[The Revolt]], and said that the State of Israel had a "right to exist within the pre-1967 borders."<ref>{{cite web |date=June 11, 1990 |title=Mandela Regrets Offending Jews, Says He is Ready to Visit Israel |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/mandela-regrets-offending-jews-says-he-is-ready-to-visit-israel |accessdate=2023-03-26 |publisher=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |archive-date=March 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326192216/https://www.jta.org/archive/mandela-regrets-offending-jews-says-he-is-ready-to-visit-israel |url-status=live }}</ref>

In his 2010 book ''The Unspoken Alliance'', [[Sasha Polakow-Suransky]] criticized the ADL for hiring the private spy Roy Bullock to collect information on the anti-apartheid movement in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kane |first=Alex |date=December 29, 2021 |title=Desmond Tutu's Lifelong Struggle Against Apartheid |url=https://jewishcurrents.org/desmond-tutus-lifelong-struggle-against-apartheid |accessdate=2023-03-27 |website=[[Jewish Currents]] |publisher= |archive-date=March 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328023022/https://jewishcurrents.org/desmond-tutus-lifelong-struggle-against-apartheid |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Glenn Frankel]], writing about the book, said the ADL "participated in a blatant propaganda campaign against Nelson Mandela and the ANC" during the 1980s but had changed its stance on Mandela around 1990 with Foxman calling him a hero.<ref name="Frankel-2010" /> South African-born Israeli journalist [[Benjamin Pogrund]] said in a review of ''The Unspoken Alliance'' for ''[[The Jewish Chronicle]]'' that the ADL and South Africa's Jewish Board of Deputies "played toadying and inglorious roles over the years in defending [[Israel–South Africa relations#Early relations: 1948–1994|Israel's ties]] and in support of the apartheid government".<ref name="Pogrund-2010" />

=== Other ===
In October 2010, the ADL condemned remarks by [[Ovadia Yosef]] that the sole purpose of non-Jews was to serve the Jews.<ref>{{cite news |last=Mozgovaya |first=Natasha |author-link=Natasha Mozgovaya |title=ADL slams Shas spiritual leader for saying non-Jews 'were born to serve Jews' |url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/adl-slams-shas-spiritual-leader-for-saying-non-jews-were-born-to-serve-jews-1.320235 |work=Haaretz |date=October 20, 2010 |access-date=October 21, 2010 |archive-date=October 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004155828/http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/adl-slams-shas-spiritual-leader-for-saying-non-jews-were-born-to-serve-jews-1.320235 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

== Relations with religious and ethnic groups ==
=== Relations with African-Americans ===
During the 1970s, the ADL was a staunch opponent of [[affirmative action]], with its then-leader Perlmutter one of the national figures in opposition.<ref name="Jewish Telegraphic Agency-2003" /> It filed an amicus brief in support of Allan Bakke, the white student in the landmark 1978 ''[[Regents of the University of California v. Bakke]]'' Supreme Court Case that struck down [[racial quota]]s for university students.<ref>{{cite web |date=June 29, 1978 |title=Jewish Organizations Hail Court Ruling in Bakke Case; Say It Vindicates Their Stand Against Quotas |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/jewish-organizations-hail-court-ruling-in-bakke-case-say-it-vindicates-their-stand-against-quotas |accessdate=2023-04-01 |publisher=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |archive-date=April 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401221815/https://www.jta.org/archive/jewish-organizations-hail-court-ruling-in-bakke-case-say-it-vindicates-their-stand-against-quotas |url-status=live }}</ref> Differences on the issue and others were described as leading to a rift between Jewish and African-American groups in the 1970s.<ref name="Jewish Telegraphic Agency-2003" /> In the 2003 landmark Supreme Court case ''[[Grutter v. Bollinger]]'', the ADL filed a brief opposing the [[University of Michigan]]'s affirmative action program, but its argument did not propose to end affirmative action entirely; rather, the ADL contended that race "may appropriately be considered in the admissions process," but with no more weight than other characteristics of applicants.<ref name="Jewish Telegraphic Agency-2003">{{cite web |date=January 29, 2003 |title=Jews temper views on affirmative action |url=https://www.jta.org/2003/01/29/lifestyle/jews-temper-views-on-affirmative-action |accessdate=2023-04-01 |publisher=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |archive-date=April 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401221813/https://www.jta.org/2003/01/29/lifestyle/jews-temper-views-on-affirmative-action |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/amicus-brief/grutter-v-bollinger |title=Grutter v. Bollinger |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |accessdate=2023-04-01 |archive-date=April 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401221812/https://www.adl.org/resources/amicus-brief/grutter-v-bollinger |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1984, ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' reported that then-ADL national director Nathan Perlmutter said that Rev. [[Jesse Jackson]], Sr. was antisemitic after Jackson referred to New York City as "Hymietown".<ref>{{cite journal |first=Fay |last=Joyce |date=February 23, 1984 |title=Post Reaffirms Report On Jackson Comment |journal=[[The New York Times]] |page=13 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/27/us/jackson-admits-saying-hymie-and-apologizes-at-a-synagogue.html |access-date=February 5, 2017 |archive-date=December 10, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210101315/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0E10FB3B5D0C708EDDAB0894DC484D81 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Fay |last=Joyce |date=February 27, 1984 |title=Jackson Admits Saying 'Hymie' And Apologizes At A Synagogue |journal=[[The New York Times]] |page=16 |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30A14F83C5D0C748EDDAB0894DC484D81 |access-date=February 5, 2017 |archive-date=December 10, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210101255/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30A14F83C5D0C748EDDAB0894DC484D81 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The ADL criticized film director [[Spike Lee]] regarding his portrayal of Jewish nightclub owners Moe and Josh Flatbush in his film ''[[Mo' Better Blues]]'' (1990). The ADL said the characterizations of the nightclub owners "dredge up an age-old and highly dangerous form of anti-Semitic stereotyping", and that it was "disappointed that Spike Lee – whose success is largely due to his efforts to break down racial stereotypes and prejudice – has employed the same kind of tactics that he supposedly deplores".<ref>{{cite journal|date=August 16, 1990|title=Spike Lee's Jews and the Passage From Benign Cliche Into Bigotry|journal=[[The New York Times]]|author=Caryn James|author-link=Caryn James|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/16/movies/critic-s-notebook-spike-lee-s-jews-passage-benign-cliche-into-bigotry.html|access-date=July 27, 2018|archive-date=July 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708193813/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/16/movies/critic-s-notebook-spike-lee-s-jews-passage-benign-cliche-into-bigotry.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Lee's portrayal also angered the B'nai B'rith and other such Jewish organizations, causing Lee to address the criticism in an opinion piece for ''[[The New York Times]]'', where he stated "...if critics are telling me that to avoid charges of anti-Semitism, all Jewish characters I write have to be model citizens, and not one can be a villain, cheat or a crook, and that no Jewish people have ever exploited black artists in the history of the entertainment industry, that's unrealistic and unfair".<ref>{{cite journal|date=August 22, 1990|title=I Am Not an Anti-Semite|journal=[[The New York Times]]|author=Spike Lee|author-link=Spike Lee|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/082290lee-editorial.html|access-date=June 9, 2020|archive-date=October 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023112110/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/082290lee-editorial.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2004, the ADL became the lead partner in the [[Peace and Diversity Academy]], a new New York City public high school with predominantly black and Hispanic students. The school was part of a Bloomberg-led effort to open many smaller schools. In 2014, the school was designated among New York's schools with the lowest graduation rates.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Darville |first1=Sarah |title=City's struggling schools face another annual test: enrollment |url=https://ny.chalkbeat.org/2015/5/28/21095019/city-s-struggling-schools-face-another-annual-test-enrollment |work=[[Chalkbeat New York]] |date=May 28, 2015 |access-date=April 4, 2021 |archive-date=July 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712222149/https://ny.chalkbeat.org/2015/5/28/21095019/city-s-struggling-schools-face-another-annual-test-enrollment |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Wall |first1=Patrick |title=After 30-year career, founding principal reflects on his school and the city's plan to revamp it |url=https://ny.chalkbeat.org/2015/1/27/21092164/after-30-year-career-founding-principal-reflects-on-his-school-and-the-city-s-plan-to-revamp-it |work=Chalkbeat New York |date=January 27, 2015 |access-date=April 4, 2021 |archive-date=July 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712222122/https://ny.chalkbeat.org/2015/1/27/21092164/after-30-year-career-founding-principal-reflects-on-his-school-and-the-city-s-plan-to-revamp-it |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2018, the ADL criticized US Representative [[Danny K. Davis|Danny Davis]] for not condemning [[Louis Farrakhan]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=March 5, 2018|first=Leo |last=Giosue|title=ADL pans congressman who won't condemn Farrakhan for lacking 'courage'|newspaper=The Jerusalem Post &#124; Jpost.com |url=https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/ADL-pans-congressman-who-wont-condemn-Farrakhan-for-lacking-courage-544221|access-date=April 15, 2020|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726075426/https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/ADL-pans-congressman-who-wont-condemn-Farrakhan-for-lacking-courage-544221|url-status=live}}</ref>{{clarify|date=May 2023}} Davis subsequently condemned Farrakhan's views, saying, "So let me be clear: I reject, condemn and oppose Minister Farrakhan's views and remarks regarding the Jewish people and the Jewish religion."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kampeas|first1=Ron|title=Democratic congressman who praised Louis Farrakhan now denounces him|url=https://www.jta.org/2018/03/09/news-opinion/democratic-congressman-praised-louis-farrakhan-now-denounces|access-date=October 30, 2018|website=JTA|date=9 March 2018|publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|archive-date=November 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121022116/https://www.jta.org/2018/03/09/news-opinion/democratic-congressman-praised-louis-farrakhan-now-denounces|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Interfaith camp ===
In 1996, the ADL's New England Regional Office established a faith-based initiative called "The Interfaith Youth Leadership Program", better known as "Camp If", or Camp Interfaith. Involving teenagers of the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic faiths, the camp brings the teens together for a week at camp where the teens bond and learn about each other's cultures. The camp has emerged as a new attempt to foster good relations between younger members of the Abrahamic faiths.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Siek |first=Stephanie V. |date=April 6, 2006 |title=A different kind of camp |journal=[[The Boston Globe]] |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/04/06/a_different_kind_of_camp/|archive-date=May 22, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060522062202/http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/04/06/a_different_kind_of_camp/|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

== Reception ==
The ADL has been criticized both from the [[Right-wing politics|right]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/anti-defamation-league-trump-232049|title=ADL combats criticism of being too tough on Trump|date=January 1, 2016|website=Politico|access-date=March 29, 2020|archive-date=March 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329180908/https://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/anti-defamation-league-trump-232049|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Left-wing politics|left]] of the US political spectrum, including from within the American Jewish community.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-from-left-and-right-why-is-a-league-of-haters-descending-on-the-adl-1.6053744|title=Opinion From Left and Right, Why Is a League of Haters Descending on the ADL?|newspaper=Haaretz|date=May 3, 2018|access-date=March 29, 2020|last1=Cohen|first1=Debra Nussbaum|archive-date=March 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329182415/https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-from-left-and-right-why-is-a-league-of-haters-descending-on-the-adl-1.6053744|url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref> ADL positions and actions that have generated criticism include domestic spying,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Paddock |first=Richard C. |date=April 13, 1993 |title=New Details of Extensive ADL Spy Operation Emerge : Inquiry: Transcripts reveal nearly 40 years of espionage by a man who infiltrated political groups. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-04-13-mn-22383-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=September 15, 2023 |archive-date=September 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230912041843/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-04-13-mn-22383-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bamford |first=James |date=2023-11-17 |title=Israel's War on American Student Activists |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/world/israel-spying-american-student-activists/ |access-date=2023-11-20 |issn=0027-8378 |archive-date=November 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118003447/https://www.thenation.com/article/world/israel-spying-american-student-activists/ |url-status=live }}</ref> its former [[Armenian genocide denial]] (since repudiated and apologized for),<ref>{{cite web |last1=Janbazian |first1=Rupen |date=May 16, 2016 |title=ADL's Official Recognition of Armenian Genocide Ends Years-Long Controversy |url=http://armenianweekly.com/2016/05/16/adl-armenian-genocide-2016/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104195629/https://armenianweekly.com/2016/05/16/adl-armenian-genocide-2016/ |archive-date=January 4, 2018 |access-date=September 25, 2019 |website=The Armenian Weekly}}</ref> and what parts of the American left argue is the ADL's view that [[criticism of the Israeli government]] can be antisemitic.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-a-jewish-civil-rights-group-became-a-villain-on-the-far-left/|title=How a Jewish civil rights group became a villain on the far-left|last=Sales|first=Ben|website=timesofisrael.com|access-date=December 6, 2018|archive-date=June 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616105822/https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-a-jewish-civil-rights-group-became-a-villain-on-the-far-left/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first1=Shira|last1=Hanau|access-date=September 25, 2019|title=Can ADL Be A Moral Voice For Millennials?|url=https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/can-adl-be-a-moral-voice-for-millennials/|website=jewishweek.timesofisrael.com|date=November 28, 2018 |archive-date=September 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925110618/https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/can-adl-be-a-moral-voice-for-millennials/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The ADL's support for the [[First presidency of Donald Trump|Trump administration]]'s decision to move the US Embassy from [[Tel Aviv]] to Jerusalem in May 2018<ref>{{Cite press release|last=ADL|date=May 14, 2018|title=ADL Celebrates 'Historic Milestone' as U.S. Embassy Opens in Jerusalem|url=https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-celebrates-historic-milestone-as-us-embassy-opens-in-jerusalem|access-date=October 10, 2020|website=ADL|archive-date=October 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024143923/https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-celebrates-historic-milestone-as-us-embassy-opens-in-jerusalem|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Roth|first=Daniel J.|date=May 15, 2018|title=U.S. Jewish groups laud Trump's 'courageous' embassy move|url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/us-jewish-groups-laud-trumps-courageous-embassy-move-556426|access-date=October 10, 2020|website=The Jerusalem Post|archive-date=September 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920175739/https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/us-jewish-groups-laud-trumps-courageous-embassy-move-556426|url-status=live}}</ref> drew criticism.{{From whom?|date=March 2022}} Conversely, some right-wing groups and pundits, including right-wing Jewish groups, have criticized the ADL as having moved too far to the left under Jonathan Greenblatt, labeling it a "[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] auxiliary".<ref name="Ahmari-2018">{{Cite web|url=https://www.commentarymagazine.com/amari-sohrab/the-adl-smears-mike-pompeo/|title=The ADL Smears Mike Pompeo|last=Ahmari|first=Sohrab|author-link=Sohrab Ahmari|date=April 19, 2018|access-date=March 29, 2020|archive-date=March 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329180910/https://www.commentarymagazine.com/amari-sohrab/the-adl-smears-mike-pompeo/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jns.org/opinion/whatever-happened-to-the-adl/|title=Opinion: Whatever happened to the ADL?|last=Tobin|first=Jonathan|author-link=Jonathan S. Tobin|work=Jewish News Syndicate|date=July 13, 2018|access-date=March 29, 2020|archive-date=March 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329180908/https://www.jns.org/opinion/whatever-happened-to-the-adl/|url-status=live}}</ref> The ADL repeatedly criticized Trump for what they viewed as antisemitic tropes and engagement in apologetics for white supremacists.<ref>{{Cite press release|url=https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-condemns-president-trumps-remarks|title=ADL Condemns President Trump's Remarks|date=August 15, 2017|website=ADL|access-date=April 22, 2020|archive-date=August 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817122535/https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-condemns-president-trumps-remarks|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="CNN-2019" /><ref name="Kuruvilla-2019" /> Alongside at least eight other Jewish advocacy organizations, dozens of civil rights organizations, and more than one hundred members of congress, the ADL called on the Trump administration to fire administration executive [[Stephen Miller (political advisor)|Stephen Miller]], the architect of the Trump administration policies on immigration, condemning Miller as a white supremacist.<ref name="Mathias-2019" />

Graduate student and activist Emmaia Gelman wrote in the ''Boston Review'' in 2019 that the ADL has conducted a "vigorous, and successful campaign, alongside [[AIPAC]], specifically to characterize Arab American political organizing as dual loyalty." She wrote that the ADL's role in anti-hate efforts had insulated it from deserved scrutiny, and that it had undermined the American left including some black-led groups in such efforts.<ref name="Gelman-2019">{{cite news |last1=Gelman |first1=Emmaia |title=The Anti-Defamation League Is Not What It Seems |url=https://bostonreview.net/politics/emmaia-gelman-anti-defamation-league-not-what-it-seems |access-date=31 October 2021 |work=Boston Review |date=May 21, 2019 |archive-date=October 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031125353/https://bostonreview.net/politics/emmaia-gelman-anti-defamation-league-not-what-it-seems |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Armenian genocide ===
Prior to 2007, the ADL described the [[Armenian genocide]] as a massacre and an atrocity, but not a [[genocide]].<ref name="ADL Statement on the Armenian Genocide-2007">{{cite press release |url=http://www.adl.org/PresRele/Mise_00/5114_00.htm |title=ADL Statement on the Armenian Genocide |date=August 21, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120720091135/http://www.adl.org/PresRele/Mise_00/5114_00.htm |archive-date=July 20, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Then-CEO Foxman had earlier opposed calls for the US Government to recognise it as a genocide.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kurtzman |first=Joey |date=July 8, 2007 |title=Fire Foxman: Denying the Armenian genocide should be the last atrocity perpetrated by the ADL chief. |url=http://www.jewcy.com/feature/2007-07-09/fire_foxman |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308081305/http://www.jewcy.com/feature/2007-07-09/fire_foxman |archive-date=March 8, 2008 |access-date=March 14, 2008 |website=[[Jewcy]] |publisher=Tablet magazine}}</ref> Turkey maintains a position of [[Armenian genocide denial]]; the ADL was reported to have deferred to Turkey as a strategic ally of America and Israel and received direct pressure from the Turkish foreign ministry.<ref name="Schwartz-2007" /><ref name="Kampeas-2021"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Ravid |first=Barak |date=October 10, 2007 |title=טורקיה לישראל: עזרו לנו לעצור הכרה אמריקאית בשואה הארמנית |newspaper=Haaretz |url=http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/911393.html |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215025515/http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/911393.html |archive-date=February 15, 2009}}</ref>

In [[Watertown, Massachusetts]], which has a significant Armenian population, the town council in early August 2007 decided unanimously to withdraw from the ADL's "No Place for Hate" anti-discrimination campaign over the issue. Human rights commissions in some other Massachusetts communities also withdrew in subsequent months.<ref name="Woolhouse-2007">{{cite news |last=Woolhouse |first=Megan |date=December 5, 2007 |title=ADL's regional leader resigns: Backers cite rift on genocide issue |work=The Boston Globe |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/12/05/adls_regional_leader_resigns/ |url-status=live |access-date=March 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217152919/http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/12/05/adls_regional_leader_resigns/ |archive-date=February 17, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Esker |first=Sharon Tosto |title=City recognizes Armenian genocide, suspends ADL membership |work=Medford Transcript |url=http://medford.wickedlocal.com/x96464381 |url-status=live |access-date=May 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180505212320/http://medford.wickedlocal.com/x96464381 |archive-date=May 5, 2018}}</ref> An editorial in ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' criticized the ADL, saying, "as an organization concerned about human rights, it ought to acknowledge the genocide against the Armenian people during World War I, and criticize Turkish attempts to repress the memory of this historical reality."<ref>{{cite news |date=August 3, 2007 |title=Editorial: A genocide not to be denied |work=[[Boston Globe]] |url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/08/03/a_genocide_not_to_be_denied/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111104144821/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/08/03/a_genocide_not_to_be_denied/ |archive-date=November 4, 2011}}</ref> On August 17, 2007, ADL fired its regional New England director, Andrew H. Tarsy, for breaking ranks and saying that ADL should recognize the genocide.<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Brien |first=Keith |date=August 18, 2007 |title=ADL local leader fired on Armenian issue: Genocide question sparked bitter debate |work=The Boston Globe |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/08/18/adl_local_leader_fired_on_armenian_issue/ |url-status=live |access-date=March 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517001844/http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/08/18/adl_local_leader_fired_on_armenian_issue/ |archive-date=May 17, 2008}}</ref> In its August 21, 2007, "Statement on the Armenian Genocide", ADL acknowledged the genocide, but maintained its opposition to congressional resolutions aimed at recognizing it.<ref name="ADL Statement on the Armenian Genocide-2007" /> Foxman wrote that "the consequences of those actions" by the [[Ottoman Empire]] against Armenians "were indeed tantamount to genocide" and "If the word genocide had existed then, they would have called it genocide".<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Brien |first=Keith |date=August 22, 2007 |title=ADL chief bows to critics: Foxman cites rift, calls Armenian deaths genocide |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/08/22/adl_chief_bows_to_critics/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510155457/http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/08/22/adl_chief_bows_to_critics/ |archive-date=May 10, 2008 |access-date=March 14, 2008 |work=The Boston Globe}}</ref><ref name="Schwartz-2007" /> The Turkish government condemned the league's statement.<ref>{{cite news |last=Levenson |first=Michael |date=August 24, 2007 |title=Turkey condemns statement by ADL |work=The Boston Globe |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/08/24/turkey_condemns_statement_by_adl/ |url-status=live |access-date=March 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070826204901/http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/08/24/turkey_condemns_statement_by_adl/ |archive-date=August 26, 2007}}</ref> It was criticized by activists and groups pushing for recognition of the genocide, who argued that the ADL hedged by using the qualifier "tantamount" and still opposed legislation.<ref name="Schwartz-2007">{{cite news |last1=Schwartz |first1=Penny |date=October 17, 2007 |title=Armenians push forward with ADL fight |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |url=https://www.jta.org/2007/10/17/united-states/armenians-push-forward-with-adl-fight |url-status=live |access-date=March 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925120309/https://www.jta.org/2007/10/17/united-states/armenians-push-forward-with-adl-fight |archive-date=September 25, 2020}}</ref> Tarsy won his job back,<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Brien |first=Keith |date=September 7, 2007 |title=Anti-Defamation League rehires New England director |work=The Boston Globe |url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2007/08/antidefamation_1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831110745/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2007/08/antidefamation_1.html |archive-date=August 31, 2009}}</ref> but he subsequently submitted his resignation, on December 4, 2007.<ref name="Woolhouse-2007" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Axelbank |first=Rachel |date=December 6, 2007 |title=Tarsy Resignation Draws Mixed Emotions From Area Colleagues |url=http://www.thejewishadvocate.com/this_weeks_issue/news/?content_id=4108 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071210223450/http://www.thejewishadvocate.com/this_weeks_issue/news/?content_id=4108 |archive-date=December 10, 2007 |access-date=January 7, 2008 |publisher=Jewish Advocate |df=mdy-all}}</ref> By 2016, the ADL had joined other groups urging Congress to pass a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide; it endorsed such a resolution in 2019.<ref name="Kampeas-2021">{{cite news |last=Kampeas |first=Ron |title=Jews didn't support the designation of the Armenian Genocide, why now? |date=April 27, 2021 |work=The Jerusalem Post |url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/jews-didnt-support-the-designation-of-the-armenian-genocide-why-now-666433 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240618170917/https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/jews-didnt-support-the-designation-of-the-armenian-genocide-why-now-666433 |archive-date=June 18, 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=ADL Endorses Congressional Resolution Commemorating the Armenian Genocide|url=https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/adl-endorses-congressional-resolution-commemorating-armenian-genocide |access-date=2023-05-19 |website=ADL |archive-date=May 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230519100321/https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/adl-endorses-congressional-resolution-commemorating-armenian-genocide |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Park51 Community Center opposition ===
In 2010, the ADL issued a statement opposing the [[Park51]] Community Center, a proposed Islamic community center and mosque two blocks from the [[World Trade Center site]] in New York. It said, "The controversy which has emerged regarding the building of a Community Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process. Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the City of New York would be better served if an alternative location could be found."<ref name="Berkman-2010">{{cite news |last=Berkman |first=Jacob |date=July 30, 2010 |title=ADL opposes World Trade Center Mosque |work=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |url=http://blogs.jta.org/telegraph/article/2010/07/30/2740283/adl-opposes-world-trade-center-mosque |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100803005159/http://blogs.jta.org/telegraph/article/2010/07/30/2740283/adl-opposes-world-trade-center-mosque |archive-date=August 3, 2010}}</ref> The ADL denounced what it saw as bigoted attacks on the project. Foxman opined that some of those who oppose the mosque are "bigots", and that the plan's proponents may have every right to build the mosque at that location. Nevertheless, he said that building the mosque at that site would unnecessarily cause more pain for the families of some victims of 9/11.<ref name="Berkman-2010" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Jacoby |first=Susan |author-link=Susan Jacoby |date=August 6, 2010 |title=The Spirited Atheist: Ground Zero mosque protected by First Amendment – but it's still salt in a wound |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/spirited_atheist/2010/08/ground_zero_mosque_protected_by_first_amendment--but_its_still_salt_in_a_wound.html |url-status=dead |access-date=April 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100817115334/http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/spirited_atheist/2010/08/ground_zero_mosque_protected_by_first_amendment--but_its_still_salt_in_a_wound.html |archive-date=August 17, 2010}}</ref><ref name="The New York Times-2010">{{cite news |date=August 4, 2010 |title=The ADL, the Mosque and the Fight Against Bigotry |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/opinion/l05mosque.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803041802/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/opinion/l05mosque.html |archive-date=August 3, 2017}}</ref>

This opposition to the Community Center led to criticism of the statement from various parties, including one ADL board member, the American Jewish Committee, the [[Jewish Community Relations Council|Jewish Community Relations Council of New York]], Rabbi [[Irwin Kula]], columnists [[Jeffrey Goldberg]] and [[Peter Beinart]], the [[Interfaith Alliance]],<ref>Adam Dickter, [http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new_york/wake_adl_jewish_groups_back_ground_zero_mosque "In Wake Of ADL, Jewish Groups Back Ground Zero Mosque"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806183447/http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new_york/wake_adl_jewish_groups_back_ground_zero_mosque|date=August 6, 2010}}, ''[[The Jewish Week]]'', August 3, 2010.</ref> and the [[Shalom Center]].<ref>Grace Rauh, [http://manhattan.ny1.com/content/top_stories/123265/jewish-leaders-rally-in-support-of-wtc-mosque/ "Jewish Leaders Rally In Support Of WTC Mosque"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100816033945/http://manhattan.ny1.com/content/top_stories/123265/jewish-leaders-rally-in-support-of-wtc-mosque|date=August 16, 2010}}, ''[[NY1]]'', August 5, 2010.</ref> In an interview with ''The New York Times'' Abraham Foxman published a statement in reaction to criticism.<ref>Abraham H. Foxman, [http://www.adl.org/ADL_Opinions/Interfaith/Mosque_Ground_Zero.htm "The Mosque at Ground Zero"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806020909/http://www.adl.org/ADL_Opinions/Interfaith/Mosque_Ground_Zero.htm|date=August 6, 2010}}, originally published in ''[[Huffington Post]]'', August 2, 2010.</ref> In protest of the ADL's stance, [[CNN]] host [[Fareed Zakaria]] returned the Hubert H. Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize ADL awarded him in 2005.<ref>{{cite news |date=August 9, 2010 |title=CNN host returns ADL award over stance on Islamic center |work=[[CNN]] |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/07/new.york.zakaria.adl/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108133149/http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/07/new.york.zakaria.adl/ |archive-date=November 8, 2012}}</ref> ADL chair Robert G. Sugarman responded to a critical ''New York Times'' editorial<ref>{{cite news |date=August 3, 2010 |title=Editorial {{!}} A Monument to Tolerance |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/opinion/04wed1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107035929/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/opinion/04wed1.html |archive-date=January 7, 2017}}</ref> writing, "we have publicly taken on those who criticized the mosque in ways that reflected anti-Muslim bigotry or used the controversy for that purpose" and stating that ADL has combated Islamophobia.<ref name="The New York Times-2010" />
	
On September 5, 2021, the national director and CEO of the ADL, Jonathan Greenblatt, apologized for the ADL's opposition to the center, stating, "We were wrong, plain and simple".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Greenblatt |first=Jonathan A. |date=September 5, 2021 |title=Opinion {{!}} ADL head: On NY Islamic center, we were wrong, plain and simple |work=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/04/opinions/park-51-anti-defamation-league-9-11-greenblatt/index.html |access-date=September 12, 2021 |archive-date=September 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210913002710/https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/04/opinions/park-51-anti-defamation-league-9-11-greenblatt/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Barnard |first=Anne |author-link=Anne Barnard |date=September 11, 2021 |title=Painful memory for Muslims: Outrage over a proposed Islamic center in Manhattan. |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/11/nyregion/muslim-islamic-center-9-11.html |access-date=September 13, 2021 |archive-date=September 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210913151952/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/11/nyregion/muslim-islamic-center-9-11.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Elfer |first=Helen |date=September 5, 2021 |title=Anti-Defamation League apologises for opposing mosque near Ground Zero after 9/11 |url=https://news.yahoo.com/anti-defamation-league-apologises-opposing-181649708.html |website=Yahoo!News |publisher=The Independent |access-date=September 13, 2021 |archive-date=September 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210913151953/https://news.yahoo.com/anti-defamation-league-apologises-opposing-181649708.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Accusations of Islamophobia and anti-Palestinianism===
The ADL considers [[anti-Zionism]] to be antisemitic.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Alterman |first1=Eric |title=What Does the ADL Stand for Today? |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/175013/anti-defamation-league-where-stand-today |access-date=June 15, 2024 |magazine=[[The New Republic]] |date=August 21, 2023 |quote=The ADL counts certain sorts of criticism of Israel, including straightforward statements of Palestinian solidarity, in its statistics on antisemitism—even if no mention is made of Jews, and even if those doing the criticizing are themselves Jews. What’s more, the group is not exactly subtle about any distinctions to be made when it comes to this most complicated of issues. In 2022, Greenblatt made the organization’s position crystal clear when he announced: “Anti-Zionism is antisemitism, full stop.” Speaking to an audience at the Aspen Ideas Festival more recently, he instructed the crowd that the words “free Palestine,” when said to a Jewish person, were “antisemitic, plain and simple.” |archive-date=May 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517185501/https://newrepublic.com/article/175013/anti-defamation-league-where-stand-today |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Gelman-2019"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Owen |first1=Tess |title=At Leading Anti-Hate Group, Boss's Embrace of Elon Musk Raises Tensions |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/adl-elon-musk-controversy/ |access-date=June 15, 2024 |work=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] |date=December 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231221205041/https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxjkzm/adl-elon-musk-controversy |archive-date=December 21, 2023 |url-status=live |quote=In a speech in May 2022, Greenblatt made clear that his position—and the ADL’s position— was that anti-Zionism and anti-Zionist groups that are critical of Israel, including Jewish Voice for Peace, often known as JVP, are antisemitic.}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |author= |author-link= |date=November 2023 |title=Islamophobic Tropes in the Palestine-Israel Discourse |url=https://csrr.rutgers.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/csrr-presumptively-antisemitic-report.pdf|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240615222542/https://csrr.rutgers.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/csrr-presumptively-antisemitic-report.pdf|archive-date=June 15, 2024 |publisher=Rutgers University Law School Center for Security, Race and Rights |docket= |access-date=June 15, 2024 |quote=The workshop was replaced by a program on antisemitism by the AntiDefamation League, a staunchly pro-Israel organization that labels criticism of Zionism as antisemitism.|page=55}}</ref> According to ''[[The Nation]]'''s Joshua Leifer, this stance, in part, positions the ADL as "an [[Islamophobia|anti-Muslim]] and [[Anti-Palestinianism|anti-Palestinian]] outfit",<ref>{{cite news |last1=Leifer |first1=Joshua |title=The ADL Goes Full Bully |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/adl-greenblatt-extremist/ |access-date=June 16, 2024 |work=[[The Nation]] |date=May 6, 2022 |archive-date=May 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240503160304/https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/adl-greenblatt-extremist/ |url-status=live }}</ref> while [[Eli Pariser]] has said the ADL's support for the prohibition of the anti-Zionist slogan<ref>{{cite news |last1=Girgis |first1=Lauren |title=Antisemitism in WA rose dramatically in 2023, audit finds |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/northwest/antisemitism-in-wa-rose-dramatically-in-2023-audit-finds/ |access-date=June 16, 2024 |work=[[Seattle Times]] |date=April 16, 2024 |quote=For instance, the ADL counts the anti-Zionist slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as antisemitic rhetoric. |archive-date=June 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240617024450/https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/northwest/antisemitism-in-wa-rose-dramatically-in-2023-audit-finds/ |url-status=live }}</ref> "[[from the river to the sea]]" on social media is "both morally wrong and disastrously counterproductive".<ref name="Dickson-2023">{{cite magazine |last1=Dickson |first1=EJ |title=Musk Endorsement Has a Top ADL Advisor Ready to Quit |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/anti-defamation-league-elon-musk-jonathan-greenblatt-antisemitism-critics-interviews-1234897065/ |access-date=June 16, 2024 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=November 26, 2023 |archive-date=May 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240501193421/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/anti-defamation-league-elon-musk-jonathan-greenblatt-antisemitism-critics-interviews-1234897065/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ADL staff have also criticized the ADL's leadership for equating Palestinian opposition to Zionism with anti-Semitism, while a former regional development director for the group has claimed that it is "willing to throw ... Palestinians under the bus" in order to maximize fundraising.<ref name="Guyer-2024" />

In 2022, the ADL's CEO denounced Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine as the "photo inverse of the extreme right that the ADL has long tracked", a statement that was in turn denounced by more than 50 American Muslim and civil rights groups.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ain |first1=Stewart |title=More than 50 groups reject ADL's critique of pro-Palestinian activism |url=https://forward.com/fast-forward/502594/muslim-cair-adl-critique-greenblatt-palestinian/ |access-date=June 16, 2024 |work=Forward |date=June 16, 2024 |archive-date=June 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240617024451/https://forward.com/fast-forward/502594/muslim-cair-adl-critique-greenblatt-palestinian/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Two years later, in 2024, the ADL asserted that [[Students for Justice in Palestine]] (SJP) had violated federal law concerning material support for Hamas, a statement that both ''[[The Nation]]'' and ''[[The Intercept]]'' observed was made without any evidence.<ref>{{cite news |title=How the ADL's Anti-Palestine Advocacy Helped Shape US Terror Laws |url=https://theintercept.com/2024/02/21/adl-palestine-terrorism-legislation/ |access-date=June 14, 2024 |work=[[The Intercept]] |issue=February 21, 2024 |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621215258/https://theintercept.com/2024/02/21/adl-palestine-terrorism-legislation/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Ackerman |first1=Spencer |title=The ADL Is Defaming Palestinian Students as Terrorist Supporters |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/adl-palestine-terrorism-letter/ |access-date=June 15, 2024 |work=[[The Nation]] |date=October 31, 2023 |archive-date=June 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621215424/https://www.thenation.com/article/society/adl-palestine-terrorism-letter/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The SJP responded by stating that "rather than combating [authoritarianism and racism] and organizing for genuine social justice, the ADL has leveraged Islamophobia, anti-Arab sentiment, and conservatism to delegitimize the movement for Palestine liberation".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kane |first1=Alex |title=ADL Staffers Dissented After CEO Compared Palestinian Rights Groups to Right-Wing Extremists, Leaked Audio Reveals |url=https://jewishcurrents.org/adl-staffers-dissented-after-ceo-compared-palestinian-rights-groups-to-right-wing-extremists-leaked-audio-reveals |access-date=June 16, 2024 |work=Jewish Currents |date=March 8, 2023 |archive-date=May 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527193034/https://jewishcurrents.org/adl-staffers-dissented-after-ceo-compared-palestinian-rights-groups-to-right-wing-extremists-leaked-audio-reveals |url-status=live }}</ref> The ADL's claims against the SJP were criticized by the [[ACLU]] which contended they "chill speech, foster an atmosphere of mutual suspicion, and betray the spirit of free inquiry".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Marcetic |first1=Branko |title=A Tidal Wave of State and Private Repression Is Targeting Pro-Palestinian Voices |url=https://jacobin.com/2023/11/anti-palestine-mccarthyism-censorship |access-date=June 15, 2024 |work=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |date=November 2023 |archive-date=March 15, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240315051306/https://jacobin.com/2023/11/anti-palestine-mccarthyism-censorship |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Council on American–Islamic Relations|CAIR]] issued a public condemnation of the ADL for "slandering ... Palestinian students"<ref>{{cite web |title=CAIR Condemns ADL for Slandering Jewish and Palestinian Students as 'Iranian Proxies,' Calls on MSNBC to Ban Him |url=https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-condemns-adl-for-slandering-jewish-and-palestinian-students-as-iranian-proxies-calls-on-msnbc-to-ban-him/ |website=cair.org |publisher=[[Council on American Islamic Relations]] |access-date=June 15, 2024 |archive-date=May 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240524165848/https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-condemns-adl-for-slandering-jewish-and-palestinian-students-as-iranian-proxies-calls-on-msnbc-to-ban-him/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and, the same year, a coalition of [[Harvard University]] student groups denounced ADL leadership as racist against Palestinians and the organization itself as "widely discredited".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Haidar |first1=Emma H. |title=Harvard President Garber Meets With ADL Head To Discuss Antisemitism Amid Encampment |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/5/13/garber-jonathan-greenblatt-meeting-encampment/ |access-date=June 15, 2024 |work=[[Harvard Crimson]] |date=May 13, 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240615223436/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/5/13/garber-jonathan-greenblatt-meeting-encampment/|archive-date=June 15, 2024|quote=“Hours after been[sic] spotted meeting with top administration, notable anti-Palestinian racist & president of the widely-discredited ADL Jonathan Greenblatt congratulates Garber for suspending students before EVER coming to the negotiating table,” HOOP wrote.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=I joined the ADL to fight racism. It's actually doing the opposite |url=https://www.972mag.com/adl-racism-palestine/ |access-date=June 14, 2024 |work=[[+972 Magazine]] |date=February 7, 2022 |archive-date=April 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426134124/https://www.972mag.com/adl-racism-palestine/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Hussam Ayloush, the executive director of CAIR's Los Angeles office, has said that the ADL "contributes to the growth and rise of Islamophobia in America".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kane |first1=Alex |title=How the ADL's Israel Advocacy Undermines Its Civil Rights Work |url=https://jewishcurrents.org/how-the-adls-israel-advocacy-undermines-its-civil-rights-work |access-date=June 15, 2024 |work=Jewish Currents |date=Spring 2021 |archive-date=June 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240619215517/https://jewishcurrents.org/how-the-adls-israel-advocacy-undermines-its-civil-rights-work |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2024, according to [[Georgetown University]]'s Bridge Initiative, the ADL's CEO "vilified the Palestinian people by making an offensive analogy between the Palestinian [[keffiyeh]] and the Nazi [[swastika]]".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tazamal |first1=Mobashra |title=Mapping Islamophobia on Facebook |url=https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/israel-palestine-mapping-islamophobia-on-facebook-by-u-s-presidential-candidates/ |website=georgetown.edu |publisher=[[Georgetown University]] |access-date=June 16, 2024 |archive-date=June 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240617024450/https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/israel-palestine-mapping-islamophobia-on-facebook-by-u-s-presidential-candidates/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Internal dissent over ADL leadership ===
Yael Eisenstat, head of the ADL's Center for Technology and Society (CTS), said she was resigning in 2024 to refocus her work on election protection, though an anonymous ADL staffer said the real reason for her departure was objection to Greenblatt's praise of billionaire tech mogul [[Elon Musk]]. Eisenstat's announcement followed the resignation of three other CTS employees who disagreed with ADL post-October 7 policies targeting pro-Palestine activism rather than antisemitism.<ref name="Jewish Currents-2024" />

=== "Drop the ADL" campaign ===
In August 2020, a coalition of progressive organizations launched the "Drop the ADL" campaign, arguing that "the ADL is not an ally" in social justice work. The campaign consisted of an open letter and a website, which were shared on social media with the [[hashtag]] "#DropTheADL". Notable signatories included the [[Democratic Socialists of America]], [[Movement for Black Lives]], [[Jewish Voice for Peace]], [[Center for Constitutional Rights]], and [[Council on American–Islamic Relations]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Klein|first=David Ian|title=Left-wing activists call for boycott of Anti-Defamation League|url=https://forward.com/fast-forward/452610/left-wing-activists-call-for-boycott-of-anti-defamation-league/|date=August 13, 2020|access-date=January 3, 2021|website=The Forward|archive-date=December 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201206023039/https://forward.com/fast-forward/452610/left-wing-activists-call-for-boycott-of-anti-defamation-league/|url-status=live}}</ref> The open letter stated that the ADL "has a history and ongoing pattern of attacking social justice movements led by communities of color, [[queer]] people, immigrants, Muslims, Arabs, and other marginalized groups, while aligning itself with police, right-wing leaders, and perpetrators of state violence."<ref>{{Cite web|title='Don't work with Anti-Defamation League,' progressive groups urge|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/progressive-organisations-urged-not-work-anti-defamation-league|date=August 12, 2020|first=Sheren|last=Khalel|access-date=January 3, 2021|website=Middle East Eye|archive-date=December 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201222104424/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/progressive-organisations-urged-not-work-anti-defamation-league|url-status=live}}</ref> Some liberal groups responded by defending the ADL, with [[HIAS]] CEO Mark Hetfield characterizing Drop the ADL as a "smear campaign". The ADL published a statement that the campaign involved "many of the same groups who have been pushing an anti-Israel agenda for years."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sales|first=Ben|title=Liberal groups defend ADL after renewed attack from progressive coalition|url=https://forward.com/fast-forward/452834/liberal-jewish-groups-defend-adl-after-renewed-attack-from-progressive/|access-date=January 3, 2021|website=The Forward|date=August 18, 2020|archive-date=September 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921035149/https://forward.com/fast-forward/452834/liberal-jewish-groups-defend-adl-after-renewed-attack-from-progressive/|url-status=live}}</ref> Around sixty organizations supported the campaign on its initial launch, and an additional hundred groups had joined by February 2021.<ref name="Hutt-2021">{{cite news |last1=Hutt |first1=Jacob |last2=Kane |first2=Alex |title=How the ADL's Israel Advocacy Undermines Its Civil Rights Work |url=https://jewishcurrents.org/how-the-adls-israel-advocacy-undermines-its-civil-rights-work/ |work=Jewish Currents |date=February 8, 2021 |access-date=April 23, 2021 |archive-date=April 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425073821/https://jewishcurrents.org/how-the-adls-israel-advocacy-undermines-its-civil-rights-work/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Wikipedia determination of unreliability on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict ===
{{See also|Wikipedia and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict}}{{Excerpt|Reliable sources/Perennial sources|Anti-Defamation League}}
In a July 2024 [[Tablet (magazine)|''Tablet'']] magazine article titled "Wikipedia's Jewish Problem", Izabella Tabarovsky, a scholar of the history of antisemitism, wrote that "Jewish people and the Jewish story are under an unprecedented global assault, and Wikipedia is being used as a weapon in this war. Yet there are no signs that Wikimedia—which washes its hands of any decision-making responsibility with regard to Wikipedia's content yet raises millions off its back—recognizes its role and responsibility at this moment." Tabarovsky continued, "It's crucial that we understand that the attack on the ADL in this case is actually an attack on any source of unbiased information about Jews or Israel."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tabarovsky |first1=Izabella |title=Wikipedia's Jewish Problem |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/wikipedia-jewish-problem |access-date=28 April 2025 |work=Tablet Magazine |date=25 July 2024 |language=en}}</ref> Historian {{Interlanguage link|Shira Klein|simple}} criticized a 2025 ADL report that accused Wikipedia of antisemitism, saying that the report "had nothing to do with antisemitism, and everything to do with controlling the narrative about Israel."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Klein |first1=Shira |title=Is Wikipedia a cesspool of antisemitism? Don't trust the ADL's answer. |url=https://forward.com/opinion/720601/wikipedia-antisemitism-adl-israeli-palestinian-conflict/ |access-date=17 May 2025 |work=[[The Forward]] |date=16 May 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

===Responses to Donald Trump and his administration===
{{see also|Donald Trump and antisemitism|Elon Musk salute controversy#Reactions}}

In 2018, the ADL criticized Secretary of State [[Mike Pompeo]] for Islamophobia, which Sohrab Amari suggested was evidence of bias against conservatives.<ref name="Ahmari-2018" />

After the [[second inauguration of Donald Trump]], businessman [[Elon Musk]] gave a speech in which he twice put his hand over his chest before raising his arm in a manner similar to the [[Nazi salute]]. The ADL responded to the event by stating that Musk had simply made "an awkward gesture", and that he did not perform a Nazi salute. Their response was criticized, including by Rep. [[Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]]<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=de Guzman |first=Chad |date=2025-01-21 |title=Elon Musk Comments on Salute Controversy |url=https://time.com/7208614/elon-musk-nazi-salute-reactions-debate-controversy-adl-trump-inauguration/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|TIME]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Timotija |first1=Filip |date=21 Jan 2025 |title=ADL says 'awkward' Musk gesture 'not a Nazi salute': 'This is a delicate moment' |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5097676-elon-musk-defended-salute-criticism/ |access-date=21 January 2025 |work=The Hill}}</ref> and ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Filipovic |first1=Jill |date=21 Jan 2025 |title=It's Clear Enough What Elon Musk Did. The ADL's Response Is Pathetic. |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/01/elon-musk-nazi-salute-trump-inauguration-adl-antidefamation-league.html |access-date=21 January 2025 |work=Slate}}</ref> Previously, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt has apologized to ADL staff for favorably comparing Musk and Henry Ford despite Ford's well-known antisemitism.<ref>{{cite web|first1=Ron|last1=Kampeas|accessdate=2025-04-06|title=ADL chief favorably compares Elon Musk to antisemite Henry Ford, then thinks again|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/adl-chief-favorably-compares-elon-musk-to-antisemite-henry-ford-then-backtracks/|website=www.timesofisrael.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=JTA|accessdate=2025-04-06|title=ADL's Jonathan Greenblatt praises Elon Musk as a modern Henry Ford, then reconsiders|url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2022-10-09/ty-article/.premium/adls-jonathan-greenblatt-praises-elon-musk-as-a-modern-henry-ford-then-reconsiders/00000183-bdba-dc37-adfb-bdfb4b330000|newspaper=Haaretz.com}}</ref>

Citing these incidents and others, critics have alleged that under Trump, the Anti-Defamation League has been complicit with or silent towards right-wing antisemitism, including antisemitism coming from Elon Musk and the Trump administration.<ref>{{cite web|first1=Ali|last1=Harb|accessdate=2025-04-06|title=ADL faces backlash for defending Elon Musk's raised-arm gesture|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/22/adl-faces-backlash-for-defending-elon-musks-raised-arm-gesture|website=Al Jazeera}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Borgwardt |first1=Eva |date=November 2024 |title=Let's Call the ADL What It Is: an Ally of Fascists |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/adl-trump-rally-fascism/ |accessdate=2025-03-31 |magazine=[[The Nation]] |publisher=}}</ref> Multiple ADL board members threatened to quit over the organization's praise for Musk, and a top ADL executive resigned; many working with the ADL have described Greenblatt's support for Musk as undermining the organization's ability to focus on right-wing antisemitism online.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://jewishcurrents.org/top-executive-leaves-adl-over-ceos-praise-of-elon-musk |title=Top Executive Leaves ADL Over CEO's Praise of Elon Musk |publisher=[[Jewish Currents]] |accessdate=2025-03-29}}</ref><ref name="Guyer-2024" />

The ADL praised the [[detention of Mahmoud Khalil]], saying that it "illustrates [the Trump administration's] resolve by holding alleged perpetrators responsible for their actions" and that it hoped his arrest would deter other student activists. It added that "any deportation action or revocation of a Green Card or visa must be undertaken in alignment with required due process protections."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rahman |first=Billal |date=2025-03-10 |title=Release Mahmoud Khalil petition gets nearly 800,000 signatures |url=https://www.newsweek.com/mahmoud-khalil-ice-arrest-palestinian-petition-2042067 |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}</ref> A group of Jewish faculty at Harvard signed a statement criticizing the ADL for smearing students and applauding the "lawless targeting of political opponents."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-24 |title=Dozens of Jewish Harvard Faculty Sign Statement Denouncing Arrest of Mahmoud Khalil|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/3/24/jewish-affiliates-condemn-trump/ |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=The Harvard Crimson|language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Div col}}
* [[American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee]]
* [[Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations]]
* ''[[Defamation (film)|Defamation]]'' (film)
* [[Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation]]
* [[Israel lobby in the United States]]
* [[Jewish Council for Public Affairs]]
* [[Membership discrimination in California social clubs]]
* [[Simon Wiesenthal Center]]
* [[Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France]]{{Div col end}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
* {{Official website}}
* {{ProPublicaNonprofitExplorer|131818723}}

{{Anti-Defamation League|state=uncollapsed}}
{{antisemitism topics}}
{{Organized Jewish Life in the United States}}
{{World Jewish Congress}}
{{B'nai B'rith}}
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