Your Daily Phil: ADL chief admits failure to extinguish ‘inferno of antisemitism’
Good Tuesday morning.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on a Knesset committee hearing on antisemitism and interview progressive activist Brianna Wu about what can be done to address anti-Israel sentiment in liberal spaces. We feature an opinion piece by David Bernstein and Phil Siegel with guidance for funders interested in donating to universities but concerned about what their contributions will ultimately support. Also in this newsletter: Yifat Selah, Gabriel Scheinmann and Olga Meshoe Washington.
What We’re Watching
William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, is in Israel meeting with local officials, including incoming Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yehiel Leiter.
The second cohort of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue’s Amplify Israel Fellowship arrived in Israel today for a weeklong tour of the country and meetings with Israeli figures. (Read eJP’s coverage of the first cohort’s visit here.)
The Knesset’s Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs will hold a session tomorrow morning focused on the mental health needs of foreign-born reservists and others who do not have familial support in the country.
What You Should Know
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, admitted failure in his organization’s — and the wider Jewish community’s — efforts to combat the “inferno of antisemitism” that has rocked the world over the past 15 months, in remarks made in the Knesset this morning, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
“Nobody likes to admit when they’ve fallen short. I don’t like to lose. I personally hate to lose. However, sometimes we need to acknowledge the reality, and I believe it takes confidence to express humility,” he said. “What I learned from working in Silicon Valley, it’s OK to fail as long as you fail forward and learn from it. So that’s what needs to happen now.”
Greenblatt and other American Jewish leaders who appeared in the Knesset’s Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs called on Israeli lawmakers and the State of Israel to take seriously the need to address global antisemitism.
Greenblatt did not offer concrete recommendations to innovate the field of combating antisemitism, but said that fresh thinking was sorely needed.
“We need the kind of genius that manufactured Apollo Gold Pagers and infiltrated Hezbollah for over a decade to prepare for this battle. We need the kind of courage that executed Operation Deep Layer inside Syria and destroyed Iranian missile manufacturing capabilities to undertake this mission,” he said.
“Today marks exactly 15 months since Oct. 7… Not only was it the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust, Oct. 7 lit a fuse of an inferno that’s still blazing around the world today. It’s an inferno of antisemitism. ADL has been tracking anti-Jewish incidents since the 1970s, and we’ve processed more than 10,000 anti-Jewish acts in the United States in the 12 months since Oct. 7. That’s a 200%-plus increase compared to the same period of time in the prior year. But this isn’t limited to America,” Greenblatt said.
While he highlighted the Jewish communal world’s inability to address the meteoric rise in antisemitism over the past 15 months, Shira Hutt, the executive vice president of JFNA, noted the successful efforts of individual Jewish communities in response to local antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents, listing several such examples. However, she noted that these local victories do not come cheap.
“Over the past few years, 146 local federations that make up the Jewish Federations of North America have committed to building and supporting professionally run and led security initiatives that include under its umbrella every Jewish institution and interacts with every law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the community. This has come at an enormous cost in dollars and in focus, but it has been essential,” Hutt said.
“There are many organizations that play an important role, and we are grateful for their national partnership, but the local civil engagement of every community is an indispensable component of the solution,” Hutt said.
Q&A
Fifteen minutes with progressive activist Brianna Wu
Democratic activist Brianna Wu has been a darling of the progressive left for the last decade, after a coordinated attack on the video game developer by Gamergate supporters sparked her activism in politics. But on Oct. 7, 2023, she wrote in a Boston Globe op-ed last year, her “progressive fever started breaking” as she watched friends and colleagues deny and defend Hamas’ atrocities across southern Israel, reports Jewish Insider’s Melissa Weiss, who interviewed Wu last month.
JI: Is there anything that can be done to shift the progressive views of Israel? Or is that the brokenness that exists in global society at this point?
BW: I’m gonna sound like a broken record to you but I’m going to keep saying this until someone does something about it. Israel is failing to tell a story about itself that is reaching anyone but Jews, and it’s just the truth. This is what I find so frustrating… [Every] American seems to have taken the lesson from [the Iraq War] that intervention in the world or dealing with these terrorists is always bad, and Israel has extremely disproven that assertion over the last few months… You see Iran on the back foot, finally, for the first time in a decade, and Israel is on a beautiful path forward that shows that when you’re strong and you engage the world’s threats, you actually can make the world more stable… So we desperately need Israel to do what it did in 1948, which was to be proactive, to help the rest of the world understand your values and what was at stake, and to get buy-in from your partners, and you’re just failing to do that.
Read the full report here and sign up for Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff here.
YOUR MONEY, YOUR CHOICE
How to give to universities post-Oct. 7
“In our March 2024 article in eJewishPhilanthropy, ‘American Jewish philanthropists should put their own oxygen masks on first,’ we argued that in the wake of Oct. 7, Jewish philanthropists should focus a larger portion of their giving on priorities of Jewish self-preservation. We also urged them to do their due diligence to ensure that their donations do not ultimately harm Jews,” write David Bernstein, founder of the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values, and Phil Siegel, a serial for-profit and nonprofit entrepreneur, private equity investor and philanthropist, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Concerns on the quad: “The article did not specifically address university giving, and several philanthropists responded to us with questions about their support for higher education. This is not surprising, given that educational excellence is so treasured in the Jewish community and understandably a major beneficiary of our philanthropy. The substance of most questions was about whether they should still give to universities, including their alma maters, and how to do that without perpetuating the problems we’ve encountered. In our experience, if you are writing a significant check to a university, the school will find some way to accommodate your requirements. As you think about directing your money to education, you should ask yourself two simple questions: Does the school deserve your donation, and toward what cause within the university should you direct your money?”
Worthy Reads
Don’t Turn a Blind Eye: In The Jerusalem Post, Yifat Selah draws attention to the issue of domestic violence in Israeli society. “As the civil year drew to a close, a bleak picture emerged, showing that the number of women murdered in Israel over the past four years has been on an especially disturbing upward trend, reaching a peak in 2024. According to disturbing statistics, 23 women were murdered in Israel in 2021, followed by 24 women the next year and 29 women in 2023. In 2024, 37 women lost their lives. The latest victim was Victoria Shkolnik, 26, from Ashkelon, who leaves behind her five-year-old daughter. These figures should shock everyone in Israel, and this issue must not disappear from the public agenda. The war is playing a significant role in the circumstances that has led to this unacceptable situation in Israeli society. The fears, anxieties, concerns, emotional pressure, uncertainty, and economic instability in many homes sometimes lead to tensions between couples and family members that result in violence and murder. While this sad reality is nationwide, a spotlight must be put on the Arab sector, where approximately 60% of these murders occur. The social problem in this sector is severe and carries heavy consequences for women, children, and entire communities… The current reality cannot continue. We must act together, empower women, and demand real change in the Arab sector and throughout Israeli society. We, along with the government and law enforcement agencies, must put an end to violence and ensure every woman’s right to a free, safe, and fulfilling life.” [JerusalemPost]
Know When to Walk Away: In The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Chitra Aiyar argues for creating term limits for nonprofit leaders to reduce burnout and increase diversity. “Executive directors often delay announcing their departure, not because they’re hoarding power but because they don’t want to inflict the extra costs and work on their colleagues. Leaders staying longer than they want can lead to burnout and secrecy around planning their eventual exit. It can also cause seemingly abrupt departures or prolonged tenures, both of which complicate transitions… Here’s how it could work at a nonprofit: Imagine a four-year term where at the end of the third year, the executive director decides with the board whether to continue for another term or step down. This would reduce the onus on individuals to choose whether to stay or leave. Leaving it up to executive directors to determine when to quit creates an illusion of autonomy, while establishing a tenure with a clear end date allows them to focus on their job without constantly worrying about timing their departure… Term limits would also encourage organizations to invest in institutional knowledge, fostering a culture of preparedness.” [ChronicleofPhilanthropy]
Word on the Street
The New York Police Department recorded 345 antisemitic hate crimes in New York City last year, constituting almost half of all the hate crimes in the city and representing a slight increase from the year before, according to the New York Police Department 2024 Hate Crime Report…
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency looks at how the Anti-Defamation League and other Jewish groups are using data to develop better strategies to combat antisemitism…
FJC has donated $1 million to Hebrew Free Loan Society on the recommendation of donors Andrew Lachman and Ruth Messinger to help New Yorkers of all backgrounds refinance credit card debit…
The Wall Street Journal highlights entrepreneur and investor Ron Shaich’s tradition of writing an end-of-the-year “premortem” where he challenges himself to do things in the coming year that he will feel proud of on his deathbed. One year he vowed to study Judaism and learn Hebrew to deepen his spirituality…
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) was sworn into office on Jan. 3 with a copy of the Reform movement’s “The Torah: A Women’s Commentary” held by her father…
Jewish Insider interviews Gabriel Scheinmann, executive director of the Alexander Hamilton Society, about a new book chronicling his grandfather’s exploits as a spy against the Nazis during World War II…
For the first time since World War II, a far-right Austrian party — the Freedom Party, which was founded by former Nazis — will have the chance to form a government, following the recent collapse of a coalition of more moderate parties…
The Morris J. & Betty Kaplun Foundation has issued a request for proposals for organizations addressing the issue of antisemitism. The board will award up to $5,000 to one or more organizations doing work in this field…
The Jewish Community Alliance is among the Portland, Ore., faith-based organizations stepping up to offer various social services to help homeless and refugees…
The American Historical Association passed a nonbinding resolution, 428-88, denouncing Israel’s “scholasticide” in Gaza for its strikes on schools in the enclave; the resolution did not mention Hamas’ use of schools as weapons-storage facilities and staging grounds for attacks…
“F**K THE JEWS” was spray-painted on a car in a Jewish neighborhood of Sydney — the vehicle was, in fact, owned by a non-Jewish resident — in the latest antisemitic incident in Australia, where last month a synagogue was torched in what local authorities called a “terror attack”…
Ice Hockey Australia, Australia’s ice hockey federation, cancelled an international qualifying tournament due to take place in April in Melbourne reportedly out of concerns for safety because of the participation of the Israeli national team…
Gideon Herscher has started in his role as vice president of transformational philanthropy and global resource development at the University of Haifa in Israel, following a 23-year stint at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, where he last served as executive director of global resource development…
South African activist and Israel supporter Olga Meshoe Washington died yesterday after being diagnosed with lupus a few weeks ago…
Henny Eman, the first prime minister of Aruba after it separated from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986, died yesterday at 76…
Longtime Sioux City, Iowa, Jewish community leader James Stanley Sherman died on Friday just before turning 93 in St. Louis Park, Minn., where he was also active in the Jewish community…
Pic of the Day
Washington Commanders owners Mark Ein, Mitch Rales and Josh Harris and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser stand behind President Joe Biden in the Oval Office yesterday as he signs the D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act, which will allow the NFL team to move its stadium back to the capital from its current location in Maryland.
Birthdays
Managing director and senior relationship manager at Bank of America, she serves as the chair of the Jewish Funders Network, Zoya Raynes…
Former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Michael Moskow … U.S. District Court judge for the Eastern District of Michigan since 1994, he assumed senior status in 2023, Paul D. Borman… Pulitzer Prize-winning sports reporter, columnist and writer, Ira Berkow… Co-founder and publisher of Rolling Stone magazine and co-founder of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Jann Wenner… Scottsdale, Ariz., resident, Bruce Robert Dorfman… Retired president of the University of South Florida System, a position she held for 19 years, Judy Genshaft… Senior U.S. District Court judge in Miami, Joan A. Lenard… Former brigadier general and chief rabbi of the IDF until 2016, then minister of Jerusalem affairs, Rafael “Rafi” Peretz… Former CEO of Glencore, Ivan Glasenberg… Dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon in Beverly Hills, starting in 2011 he assumed control of his family’s nationwide real estate operations, Dr. Ezra Kest… Documentary filmmaker with a focus on social justice and Jewish history, Roberta Grossman… One of the heirs to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, Anthony Pritzker… U.S. senator (R-SD), he became the Senate majority leader four days ago, John Thune turns 64… Actress and model, Lauren Cohan… Executive director of Keep Our Republic and author of Paths of the Righteous, Ari Mittleman… Concord, N.H.-based public affairs consultant, Holly Shulman… Executive director of Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos, Calif., Jeremy Ragent… Music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, he will become the chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic at the start of the 2026-2027 season, Lahav Shani… Drummer and founding member of The Groggers, a pop punk band from Queens, Nechemia “Chemy” Soibelman… Reporter on Haredi and Knesset affairs for Walla News, Yaki Adamker… Author of five books and host of the history podcast “Noble Blood,” Dana Schwartz… National chair of Israel Policy Forum Atid and senior account executive at Vizio, Jonathan Kamel… Baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles, the first Israeli player ever drafted by an MLB team, his great-uncle is Haim Saban, Dean Kremer…
