Despite the fact that Black Lives Matter formally endorsed the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement, and accused Israel of genocide, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has refused to cut its ties with the organization. Similarly, when a congressman referred to Jews living in the West Bank as “termites,” the ADL mustered only a weak response. Isi Leibler takes these and other instances as evidence that Jonathan Greenblatt—a former White House staffer who assumed leadership of the ADL last year—has lost sight of its mission:
Greenblatt . . . has behaved as though he remained employed by the Obama administration. He was entirely out of line in his condemnation of the Republican platform as “anti-Zionist” for omitting reference to a two-state solution. One can disagree about a two-state policy. But for an American Jewish organization, which must remain bipartisan and should be concentrating on anti-Semitism, to issue such a statement breaches all conventions. It is totally beyond the ADL’s mandate to involve itself in such partisan political issues.
Greenblatt is clearly obsessed with the subject of being “open-minded” and tolerant of anti-Israeli groups. He made the extraordinary statement that, while disagreeing with the boycott, divestment, and sanctions groups that promote anti-Semitism, he considers that they are “animated by a desire for justice” and we should “acknowledge the earnestness of their motives.” One is tempted to remind him that Islamic fundamentalists are also sincere in their beliefs and equally animated by their perverted concept of justice. . . .
The ADL’s central mandate must be to combat anti-Semitism, which is today largely manifested in the demonization and delegitimization of Israel. If it elects to abandon this objective, it does not warrant Jewish communal support.
Read more on Israel Hayom: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=16959