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Elon Musk threatens to sue ADL for billions of dollars, blaming Jewish group for lost revenue
(JTA) — Elon Musk threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League for up to $22 billion on Monday as he joined a growing number of white supremacists and trolls in posting invective about the group.
The legal threat of indeterminate seriousness — Musk frequently does not follow through on his stated intentions, although he sometimes does — came after he joined a white supremacist’s anti-ADL campaign on X, the platform he owns and renamed from Twitter.
Over the last several days, Musk posted at least 25 times about the ADL or related topics. Several times, he blamed the Jewish anti-bigotry group for a 60% drop in advertising revenue on the platform and said he would seek redress in court.
At one point, apparently understanding that some viewed his tirade as siding with white supremacists, Musk explicitly said that he did not support antisemitism, writing, “To be super clear, I’m pro free speech, but against anti-Semitism of any kind.” He also said he would only ban the ADL if “they break the law.”
Last fall, shortly after Musk bought the platform for $44 billion, the ADL called for a temporary ad boycott due to reports of spiking bigotry on the site. The ADL has continued to protest Musk’s approach to hate speech but has itself resumed buying ads on X.
Musk disputed that he’s been responsible for a rise in antisemitism on X and suggested that the company would file a defamation suit against the ADL. “Since the acquisition, The @ADL has been trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic,” he wrote in one post.
“To clear our platform’s name on the matter of anti-Semitism, it looks like we have no choice but to file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League … oh the irony!” he wrote in another post on Monday evening. “In our case, they would potentially be on the hook for destroying half the value of the company, so roughly $22 billion.”
In another post on Monday, he gave a lower figure: “Based on what we’ve heard from advertisers, ADL seems to be responsible for most of our revenue loss. Giving them maximum benefit of the doubt, I don’t see any scenario where they’re responsible for less than 10% of the value destruction, so ~$4 billion.”
The ADL joined with the NAACP, the Black civil rights group, in making the original call for an ad boycott. While many nonprofits and companies suspended advertising at that time, but many others have stopped advertising on X since for unrelated reasons, including the company putting their paid posts on the feeds of extremist accounts.
Musk and the ADL have been at odds for nearly a year, since he purchased the company and removed some of its guardrails against hate speech. Aside from calling for the ad boycott, the ADL has also criticized Musk for echoing antisemitic stereotypes in posts he wrote about the liberal Jewish megadonor George Soros; has criticized his reinstatement of accounts that traffic in hate speech; and, recently, acceded to his demand that the group condemn a South African apartheid-era protest song calling for the killing of white farmers.
The most recent episode in the feud began last week when Musk liked a tweet by an Irish white supremacist calling on the platform to “#BanTheADL,” a hashtag that then trended on X. Musk has since asked users whether he should put such a ban to a poll, and has engaged directly with the white supremacist in question. In response to a post by Chaya Raichik, the Orthodox Jewish woman who runs the anti-LGBTQ social media presence Libs of TikTok, Musk endorsed the idea that he should publish the platform’s entire correspondence with the ADL. He has also tweeted out articles about criticism of the ADL, and on Monday night, the phrase “The ADL” was trending on X.
The ADL and its CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, do not appear to have commented publicly on Musk’s latest stream of statements, including on X, where the organization maintains paid accounts to ensure that its posts are seen.
But some accounts that aim to combat antisemitism or advocate for Israel have pushed back on his comments, and even some Jewish users that have been critical of the ADL expressed alarm at the sustained campaign against the Jewish group. The ADL frequently draws sharp criticism from both the left and the right.
“Et tu @elonmusk?” wrote David Draiman, the Jewish frontman of the heavy metal band Disturbed. “Pushing the #BanTheADL campaign? I don’t always agree with their modern day partisan stances, but they still do a world of good? Don’t you realize the ramifications of supporting such a campaign? Devastating, truly.”
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The post Elon Musk threatens to sue ADL for billions of dollars, blaming Jewish group for lost revenue appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.