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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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Rubio Heads to Israel Amid Tensions Among US Middle East Allies
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to members of the media, before departing for Israel at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, September 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool
US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat, Marco Rubio headed to Israel on Saturday, amid tensions with fellow US allies in the Middle East over Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar and expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
Speaking to reporters before departure, Rubio reiterated that the US and President Donald Trump were not happy about the strikes.
Rubio said the US relationship with Israel would not be affected, but that he would discuss with the Israelis how the strike would affect Trump’s desire to secure the return of all the hostages held by Hamas, get rid of the terrorists and end the Gaza war.
“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them. We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” he said.
“There are still 48 hostages that deserve to be released immediately, all at once. And there is still the hard work ahead once this ends, of rebuilding Gaza in a way that provides people the quality of life that they all want.”
Rubio said it had yet to be determined who would do that, who would pay for it and who would be in charge of the process.
After Israel, Rubio is due to join Trump’s planned visit to Britain next week.
Hamas still holds 48 hostages, and Qatar has been one of the mediators, along with the US, trying to secure a ceasefire deal that would include the captives’ release.
On Tuesday, Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike on Doha. US officials described it as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests.
The strike on the territory of a close US ally sparked broad condemnation from other Arab states and derailed ceasefire and hostage talks brokered by Qatar.
On Friday, Rubio met with Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani at the White House, underscoring competing interests in the region that Rubio will seek to balance on his trip. Later that day, US President Donald Trump held dinner with the prime minister in New York.
Rubio’s trip comes ahead of high-level meetings at the United Nations in New York later this month. Countries including France and Britain are expected to recognize Palestinian statehood, a move opposed by Israel.
Washington says such recognition would bolster Hamas and Rubio has suggested the move could spur the annexation of the West Bank sought by hardline members of the Israeli government.
ON Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state. Last week, the United Arab Emirates warned that this would cross a red line and undermine the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords that normalized UAE-Israel relations in 2020.
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Netanyahu Posts Message Appearing to Confirm Hamas Leaders Survived Doha Strike
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a statement posted to social media on Saturday evening, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Qatar-based leadership of Hamas, reiterating that the jihadist group had to regard for the lives of Gazans and represented an obstacle to ending the war and releasing the Israelis it held hostage.
The wording of Netanyahu’s message appeared to confirm that the strike targeting the Hamas leaders in Doha was not crowned with success.
“The Hamas terrorists chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza,” wrote Netanyahu. “They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war.” He added that “Getting rid of them would rid the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war.”
Israel is yet to officially comment on the result of the strike, which has incurred widespread international criticism.
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Trump Hosts Qatari Prime Minister After Israeli Attack in Doha
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
US President Donald Trump held dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.
Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again.
Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said on X.
The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.
The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.
Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.
Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.
Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.