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Elon Musk takes aim at the Anti-Defamation League after its CEO says his tweets ‘will embolden extremists’
(JTA) — Hours after tweeting that George Soros “hates humanity,” Elon Musk bashed the Anti-Defamation League, appearing to draw praise from a series of white supremacist accounts on Twitter, which he owns.
On Tuesday afternoon, Musk tweeted, “ADL should just drop the ‘A.’” The tweet implied that the group, which is the most prominent antisemitism watchdog in the country, should instead be named the “Defamation League.”
Musk’s tweet came after ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt criticized Musk’s remarks about Soros, marking the latest chapter in the roller-coaster relationship between the ADL and the Twitter CEO. When Musk was poised to buy the social media platform, Greenblatt praised him. But in the months since that acquisition, the ADL has been increasingly critical of Musk, accusing him of taking a lax attitude toward policing hate speech.
When asked for a response, the ADL pointed to Greenblatt’s statement from earlier in the day, in which he took Musk to task for his Soros remarks, including a tweet in which Musk compared the progressive megadonor and Holocaust survivor to a comic book villain.
Greenblatt tweeted that Musk’s comments “will embolden extremists who already contrive anti-Jewish conspiracies and have tried to attack Soros and Jewish communities as a result.” Another Jewish organizational executive, American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch, echoed that criticism, tweeting, “The lie that Jews want to destroy civilization has led to the persecution of Jewish people for centuries. Musk should know better.” (The shooter in the Pittsburgh synagogue attack in 2018 referenced a conspiracy theory about Soros.)
The current spat is a marked difference from Greenblatt’s attitude last October, when he praised Musk as “an amazing entrepreneur and extraordinary innovator,” and as “the Henry Ford of our time.” Even though he later acknowledged that “the Henry Ford reference was wrong,” given that Ford was perhaps the most notorious antisemite in American history, Greenblatt added, “We want to be cautiously optimistic about how Musk will run the platform because he successfully has innovated other industries and tackled incredibly complex problems.”
Since then, the ADL has taken a more negative view. Less than a month after the Henry Ford analogy, the ADL called for an ad boycott of Twitter due to a spike in antisemitism on the site. In the months that have followed, the ADL has criticized Twitter for removing hate speech guardrails by dissolving an advisory body focused on “Trust and Safety” and by allowing antisemites who had been banned to return to the platform.
The Musk-ADL dynamic parallels the deteriorating relationship the ADL had with another social media giant, Facebook. Several years ago, the ADL worked with Facebook to curb hate speech, but later led a high-profile ad boycott of the platform when it judged that Facebook and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, were not committed to preventing bigotry on the site.
And Musk is not the only public figure who has targeted the ADL amid broader criticism of the left. Recently-fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson repeatedly criticized the group on his show after the ADL called on him to be ousted when he promoted an antisemitic conspiracy theory on his show. In December, Carlson claimed that the ADL, one of the country’s largest Jewish organizations, “extorted” companies for money. He said that Greenblatt leverages the ADL’s reputation for “moral authority and cash,” and threatens, “Send me money or I’ll call you names.”
Musk’s tweet about the ADL appears to have unleashed yet more antisemitism on Twitter. In the hours after Musk posted the tweet, he garnered praise from a string of accounts posting antisemitic content, which shared his tweet with their own commentary.
An account called “White Power Ranger” tweeted, “The ADL is a jewish supremacist foreign lobby/spy group.” Another with an avatar of Pepe the Frog, a cartoon that has become a symbol of the alt-right, tweeted a cartoon of a traditional fascist symbol along with the words, “We’re back.” Another posted a GIF of Adolf Hitler smiling alongside the message, “Based.”
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The post Elon Musk takes aim at the Anti-Defamation League after its CEO says his tweets ‘will embolden extremists’ appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Seeking funding for a Yiddish project for kids or young people?
די פֿישמאַן-פֿונדאַציע פֿאַר ייִדישער קולטור האָט געמאָלדן אַז זי נעמט שוין אָן סובווענץ-אַפּליקאַציעס אויף נײַע פּראָיעקטן פֿאַרן יאָר 2027. די פּראָיעקטן דאַרפֿן האָבן פֿאַר אַ ציל דאָס שטאַרקן ייִדיש ווי אַ לעבעדיקע שפּראַך, באַזונדערס בײַ קינדער און דער יוגנט.
דער טערמין פֿאַר אַפּליקאַציעס פֿאַרן יאָר 2027 איז דער 7טער נאָוועמבער 2026. די אויסגעטיילטע סובווענצן וועט מען מעלדן אין דעצעמבער.
אַלע אַפּליקאַציעס מוזן זײַן אָנגעשריבן אויף ייִדיש און דאַרפֿן נאָכפֿאָלגן די אַפּליקיר-אָנווײַזונגען וואָס איר קענט געפֿינען דאָ.
אַפּליקאַציעס וועלן ווערן באַטראַכט אויף קאָנקורס-יסודות. מען בעט מען זאָל אַרײַנשיקן אַן אַפּליקאַציע (מיט אַלע נייטיקע בײַלייגונגען) דורך בליצפּאָסט צו:
applications@fishmanfoundation.org
The post Seeking funding for a Yiddish project for kids or young people? appeared first on The Forward.
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Democrats leader Golan approached by man with knife on Israeli election day
(JTA) — JERUSALEM — Israel Police arrested a man carrying a large knife after he approached Yair Golan, head of the Democrats party, as Golan was campaigning in Tel Aviv on Election Day.
“Contrary to reports, no stabbing attempt occurred,” the police spokesman said in a statement.
The police said officers at the scene noticed a “suspicious object” protruding from beneath the coat of a man standing nearby. When they stopped him for inspection, they found a knife in his possession.
In a statement, Golan’s party said the man approached Golan “in a threatening manner” and that “when Golan’s security guards blocked him, a large knife slipped from beneath his clothing and fell to the ground.”
Police described the suspect as a Jerusalem resident in his 20s. He was arrested and taken to a local police station for questioning. They said the investigation “is ongoing.”
Following the incident, Golan said “incitement and violence will not deter us.” In a statement to the press he blamed the attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s negative campaigning and highlighted the ties between one of his spokespeople and Qatar.
“This is the direct result of the poison machine operated by Netanyahu and his Qatari agents. I call on everyone who cares about security and democracy to go out and vote now, so that we can ensure the country we love so dearly becomes a free and safe place once again,” Golan said.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Democrats leader Golan approached by man with knife on Israeli election day appeared first on The Forward.
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Rebellion PAC’s antisemitic political ad could incite violence against Jews
Israel did not cause high grocery prices in America.
Israel is not the reason you don’t have free universal healthcare.
But a new political ad from Rebellion PAC depicts struggling young parents grocery shopping in Michigan and putting back a dozen eggs because of U.S. military aid to Israel, saying they can no longer afford basics like bananas because they are funding healthcare in Israel. The ad ends by saying Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers is for “them” — Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed is for you.
Rebellion PAC, an independent entity that legally cannot coordinate with campaigns or parties, is proudly promoting a political ad that is deeply misleading, inflammatory and dangerous for American Jews. The ad uses classic tropes blaming Jews for economic and social woes, the same propaganda used historically by antisemitic regimes in Nazi Germany and the USSR. The target in this ad is the Jewish state, but the familiar subtext remains: your family is suffering because Jews are taking your money.
This would be antisemitic in any context, but in the current climate it is wildly irresponsible. American Jewish communities are facing unprecedented domestic terror threats and a historic crisis in antisemitism.
In Michigan, where this ad is aimed at voters who may decide control of the U.S. Senate, an armed domestic terrorist drove a car packed with improvised explosives into Temple Israel. The intent was a mass casualty event aimed at killing as many Jews as possible, including the children in the preschool. Brave security team members stopped the attack, but the attacker was only a few feet from perpetrating what could have been the deadliest terror attack on U.S. children since Oklahoma City.
American Jews make up only 2% of the population, but according to the FBI, Jews made up 63% of religion-based U.S. hate crimes in 2025 — and roughly 14% of all reported hate crimes.
Every candidate across the spectrum, including El-Sayed and Rogers, should disavow and condemn the dangerous rhetoric in this ad. This ad takes real problems — the exploding cost of groceries and healthcare — and blames them on Israel. This is classic antisemitic propaganda.
El-Sayed’s campaign distanced itself from the ad without condemning its content.
“This ad is not affiliated in any way with the Abdul for Senate campaign,” El-Sayed campaign spokesperson Roxie Richner said in an emailed statement. “Abdul is focused on pushing back against Trump’s agenda that is raising prices for Michiganders. No one speaks for Abdul but himself and his campaign.”
It’s worth noting that the El-Sayed campaign did not disavow the content of the ad and only issued a statement via email. El-Sayed himself did not issue a public stance on social media or criticize the inflammatory and dangerous content of the ad. His response is wholly inadequate—it does nothing to confront the antisemitism in the ad, it simply points out his campaign did not make it.
Contrast this with his former opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens, who lambasted the ad on X, stating, “This type of fearmongering about Israel is wrong.” she went on to say, “Do we need to lower costs by building more homes, securing people’s health care, and creating a fairer federal tax code? Yes, we do!! How we do so is not by blaming the high costs of our goods on the only Jewish homeland in the world.”
El-Sayed should unequivocally condemn this ad and its content, not just distance himself from it. Every candidate should stand firmly against antisemitic rhetoric in electoral politics.
When bad actors tell people their economic problems are caused by Israel, it inevitably creates a dangerous situation for Jewish Americans. Though public opinion polls show falling support for the Jewish state, it’s difficult for Americans to take those frustrations out on Israel directly, so local American Jews become a convenient target for their misplaced anger. This is exactly what happened in Michigan at Temple Israel. A Hezbollah sympathizer took his anger on Israel out on the local Jewish population.
Americans are facing real issues. But Israel is not the cause. Our grocery bills are higher for a variety of complex reasons. Grocery inflation started during the pandemic with disrupted supply chains. Production costs have risen. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine raised global grain prices. Bird flu drove up the price of eggs. Tariffs have also impacted food prices.
In terms of healthcare, a Nov. 2025 Gallup poll found that 46% of Americans preferred a government-run healthcare system, while 48% preferred a system based mostly on private health insurance. Cutting or ending U.S. military aid to Israel would not change the fact that Americans are deeply divided on how we should address our healthcare systems’ deep-seated problems. That would require American lawmakers to agree on and enact changes to how our own system is financed and organized. This is an issue of political philosophy — not lack of funds. Israel is not preventing the U.S. from organizing or financing our own healthcare system. Ending military aid to Israel would neither reverse those food-price pressures nor establish universal healthcare. The ad offers struggling Americans a scapegoat for their hardships—and American Jews face the danger of being treated as that scapegoat’s local representatives.
Rebellion PAC’s co-founder and former Executive Director Brianna Wu decried the ad, stating, “I would have quit as executive director rather than produce this,” calling the ad “awful.” We should all follow her example.
Candidates, thought leaders and elected officials must all come together and condemn this dangerous and antisemitic ad. American Jews are already being discriminated against, attacked, and in severe cases, murdered by people who hold them responsible for Israel. Political leaders must reject rhetoric that puts an even larger target on our backs by turning us into scapegoats for America’s economic struggles and healthcare failures.
The post Rebellion PAC’s antisemitic political ad could incite violence against Jews appeared first on The Forward.
