The American Jewish community needs to dismantle the Anti-Defamation League and reallocate its ample communal resources to building Jewish identity, rather than combating antisemitism. So argued New York Times columnist Bret Stephens last night in the 46th annual State of World Jewry address at the 92NY in Manhattan.

“The fight against antisemitism, which consumes tens of millions of dollars every year in Jewish philanthropy, is a well-meaning but mostly wasted effort,” he said in his speech. “We should spend the money and focus our energy elsewhere. The same goes for efforts to improve pro-Israel advocacy.” 

In a follow-up onstage interview, Rabbi David Ingber asked Stephens what he would do differently if he were “the head of the UJA or the ADL or the AJC or any of the other sacred acronyms that we have in our community.” Stephens responded by apologizing to ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, who was in the audience, and said that “if it were up to me, I would dismantle it.”

He added: “We have vast resources, but we have limited resources, and since Oct. 7, tens of millions of dollars are going to the subject of ‘What are we going to do about antisemitism?’” Stephens said. “But I fear that this money that we’re spending, it’s like those scenes of people in the ‘Wolf of Wall Street,’ just tossing a hundred-dollar bills into garbage cans. That’s not how Jewish money should be spent. That’s not helping raise a generation of young Jews who are conscious of their Jewishness as something other than the fact that they saw Schindler’s List and they visited the Holocaust Museum.”

Efforts such as ensuring Holocaust education is part of every private school curriculum or universalizing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism are “not working” in the fight against antisemitism, Stephens said. He provided several examples such as, “Tucker Carlson’s influence and popularity [soaring]” and the statistic that “in New York State, 1 in 5 millennials and Gen Zs believe the Jews caused the Holocaust.” 

Instead, Stephens suggested that resources should go toward building more Jewish day schools across the country, among other Jewish identity-strengthening causes. His suggestion echoed one made by podcast host Dan Senor, who delivered last year’s State of World Jewry address, saying that the key to thriving American Jewry is “a recalibration in favor of our community’s needs,” with Jewish day schools and summer camps being some of the strongest contributors of a solid Jewish identity.  

“The proper defense against Jew hatred is not to prove the haters wrong by outdoing ourselves in feats of altruism, benevolence and achievement,” said Stephens. “It is to lean into our Jewishness as far as each of us can, irrespective of what anyone else thinks of it.” 

He also called on American Jews to “be proud” of Israel. “This perpetual apology machine, which is the American Jew trying to stand up for the state of Israel, needs to end. We need to be proud.” 

In his address, Stephens, who coined the now-widely referenced term “Oct. 8 Jew” one month after the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, said he had been wrong with his initial definition, of a Jew “who woke up to discover who our friends are not.” Instead, he said, “the Oct. 8 Jew was the one who woke up trying to remember who he or she truly is,” Stephens said.

Correction: An earlier version of this report incorrectly stated that Stephens called for the Jewish Federations of North America to be dismantled. eJewishPhilanthropy deeply regrets the error.