New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg urged the next generation of Jewish leaders to use their influence to benefit the Jewish People, highlighting their own commitments to the Jewish community and Israel.

Speaking on Sunday at the Birthright Israel Excelerate26 Summit at New York City’s Museum of Jewish Heritage, Sandberg called for a sensible and targeted strategy to combat antisemitism and added that the Jewish communal world may be contributing to the problem.

“We have to be really strategic. And I’m not sure we’re all always doing that because it’s hard,” Sandberg said. 

“The thing about antisemitism is, it is really bad, massively on the rise, on the right, on the left. It is a massive problem. But it is still a fringe problem. The average person in this country is not antisemitic. And the problem is that if we run around telling everyone that everyone’s antisemitic, we will cause everyone to be antisemitic. That’s what all the data shows us,” she said. “And I do think as a Jewish community, as we’ve gotten alarmed about the rise of antisemitism, I am worried that some of us are inadvertently kind of spreading it. And I think we need to be really, really careful.”

Sandberg called for campaigns that are tailored to the audience. “My father does not want to see the same thing you want to see, does not want to see the same thing we should show a 14-year-old. They have to be different for different audiences based on where people are coming from,” she said. 

“If you’re trying to tell someone who’s conservative why they don’t want to be antisemitic, you want to lead with real-world violence,” Sandberg said. “If you’re talking to someone who is more liberal about antisemitism, they don’t like hate. Saying to them, ‘This is a form of hate, this is just as bad.’”

Earlier in the day, in his keynote address to the audience of some 500 graduates of Birthright’s Excel summer internship program, Kraft recalled the conversations between local Jewish leaders in his family’s Boston suburb home as a boy, where he said he learned the importance of both leadership and of “not being afraid to speak out.” 

“I ask all of you, use your talent not only to build wealth, but to build dignity. Use your influence not only to advance yourselves but to strengthen our people and protect others,” he said. “When future Excel fellows gather in rooms like this, may they look at you and see not only success, but character and spirituality, not only achievement, but courage, not only influence, but responsibility. To me, that is leadership, that is legacy, and that is community, and that is the power of standing together.”

Kraft stressed the importance of networks and connections, not only in business but for the benefit of the Jewish community. 

“This is more than a professional network. This is a community of shared identity and shared responsibility. You all will invest in one another, build companies together, serve on boards together, influence industries together. Maybe a few of you will even win Super Bowls together,” he said. “But even more importantly, you will stand together. The Jewish People have always survived and thrived. Not because of power alone, but because of community and spirituality.”

Reflecting on the coming week’s parsha, which focuses on the entire Israelite population’s contributions to the construction of the mishkan (tabernacle), Kraft said that the modern tabernacle that the Jewish People must build is a “society of grace, tolerance and love.”

In her onstage interview with an Excel fellow, Olivia Levine, Sandberg noted that her own commitment to her Jewish identity had increased dramatically in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attacks. 

“I was in BBYO…. And we used to have this thing [of asking,] ‘Are you a Jewish American or an American Jew?’ … What’s primary? Are you a Jew who happens to be American, or are you an American who happens to be a Jew?” Sandberg said. “Until Oct. 7, I would have said I was an American. I’m proud to be Jewish, but I was an American. And now being Jewish is every bit as important in my identity.”

Sandberg said that this shift came in response to her shock at how the world responded to the atrocities of the terror attack, which she said made her realize that the Jewish People’s “brief respite from history is over.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s going to be a disaster. That doesn’t mean Israel can’t thrive. That doesn’t mean you all can’t be proud Jews. It just means we’re gonna have to work harder to make that true for all of you and work harder to keep Israel safe. Work harder to be proud of our Jewish identity and make sure people understand what we’re up against.”

Sandberg noted that she had recently launched a bid to combat child marriages internationally, which she connected to the current conflict with Iran, where girls as young as 9 can be married. “Israel is the part of the Middle East that is most aligned with our values. And look at what’s happening right now in Iran. I believe that Israel and the United States are fighting the world’s battle against terrorism. There are different estimates of what percentage of the world’s terrorist attacks have been sponsored by this regime in the last 40 years. And I’ve seen numbers like 50%, 60, 70, but no one says it’s 5,” she said. 

Sandberg credited her daughter who participated in the Excel program with driving the rest of the family’s renewed focus on Jewish identity. “After Oct. 7, she was the first one in the family to ask for a Jewish star [necklace]. And then she started wearing it, and now…  all five kids, and myself, we all wear Jewish stars every day. And that’s pretty amazing and very much the legacy of this program,” she said.

“I think programs like this really matter. I think Birthright really, really matters. We know that Jewish day school matters. We know that camp matters, right?” Sandberg said. “If you look at affiliation — and this has been studied over and over within the Jewish community — Jewish day school, Jewish camp, trips to Israel. Those programs really matter. It matters that our synagogues are safe.”

Sandberg stressed that the Jewish community was not only responsible for itself but also for making the world a better place. “Hunger is a massive problem in our country. Reproductive rights are a massive problem for women in our country. Child marriage: 12 million girls under the age of 18 are going to be married this year. They’re joining the 640 million who were child brides who exist in marriages that are inherently unequal, often abusive. That’s all of our responsibility. And I think we can do that as proud Jews,” Sandberg said. “My parents always said I should do more of my philanthropy as a Jew, and I am definitely doing that.”