Your Daily Phil: ADL tracks European antisemitism + Debt ceiling fight threatens security funding
Good Wednesday morning!
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on Jewish groups’ concerns that their legislative priorities may not receive federal funding because of debt ceiling negotiations and disappointment at the inclusion of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in an addendum to the White House’s strategy to combat antisemitism. We feature an op-ed from Kate Greene and Shelley Rood Wernick, and we’ll start with a new survey by the Anti-Defamation League on antisemitic beliefs in Europe.
Western Europeans are less likely to hold antisemitic views than Eastern Europeans, though both are likely to believe that Jewish citizens are more loyal to Israel than to their home countries, according to a new survey by the Anti-Defamation League released Wednesday, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
While many Western European respondents said they sympathized more with Palestinians than with Israelis, the survey also determined that support for boycotts of Israel was “very low” across the continent. Right-wing Europeans were more likely to harbor antisemitic views than their progressive counterparts, the survey found.
The poll comprised 6,569 phone interviews with randomly selected citizens of 10 European countries over the course of two and a half months this winter. The survey, which has been conducted four times in the past nine years, found a significant drop in Ukraine’s index score from the previous poll, from 46% of respondents indicating antisemitic attitudes in 2019 to 29% expressing them in 2023, a drop that ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt attributed to the popularity of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The “dual loyalty” claim was the most common one heard in Western Europe and in Poland, where it was expressed in large numbers even in countries with low levels of antisemitic beliefs.
The poll found that Europeans are generally aware of the Holocaust, with the majority of every country saying that they’d heard of it. There is also virtually no “outright” Holocaust denial in Europe, with between 0% and 1% of respondents agreeing with the statement “The Holocaust is a myth and did not happen.” However, Holocaust distortion is more common in Eastern Europe, with 19% of Hungarians and Ukrainians, 17% of Russians and 15% of Poles expressing some form of skepticism regarding the Holocaust, like that the number of Jews killed has been “greatly exaggerated,” the survey found.
“Many, if not most, countries in Europe still have a long way to go in educating their people about the sordid history and current-day reality of antisemitism,” said Marina Rosenberg, ADL senior vice president of international affairs. “Jewish life continues in many of these countries, and we need to ensure that their governments are doing everything they can to provide a safe and secure future for their Jewish citizens.”
money matters
Jewish community leaders hailed a bill to raise the U.S. debt limit, which staves off the steeper cuts initially proposed by House Republicans, saying it was a positive step. But officials warned that specific funding levels for community priorities are not yet settled. At stake are priorities ranging from proposals for new U.S.-Israel defense programs to security grant funding, reports Marc Rod for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider.
Israel will be protected: In Jerusalem earlier this month, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) pledged that funding for Israel guaranteed under the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding would be protected from cuts — although some Democrats had questioned his ability to keep that promise without specific guarantees in the original debt limit bill passed by House Republicans. Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL), who also supports the deal and sits on the State and Foreign Operations subcommittee, told JI, “I feel pretty good that the MOU will be honored, but that doesn’t mean there’s not going to be some really drastic cuts to the budget, at least in the House. And then we’ll see what happens. It’s not a pretty picture, but I do think Israel will be protected.”
Optimistic outlook: Elana Broitman, the senior vice president of public affairs for the Jewish Federations of North America, which is prioritizing requests for additional funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program and the Holocaust Survivor Assistance Program, was optimistic about the chances for further growth for those programs despite the spending cap. Broitman noted that House Republicans had already proposed a $10 million boost for the program to $315 million in their draft Homeland Security appropriations bill introduced earlier this month — short of the $55 million increase to $360 million JFNA is supporting.
After the fact
Jewish groups question CAIR’s inclusion in WH antisemitism fact sheet
Several Jewish organizations on Tuesday questioned the White House’s decision to reference the Council on American-Islamic Relations in a fact sheet released last week alongside the U.S. national strategy to counter antisemitism, reports Gabby Deutch for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider.
Not strategic?: A source with direct knowledge of the drafting of the strategy tried to distance the 60-page document from CAIR, noting that the Islamic civil rights organization — which has faced pushback from leaders in the Jewish community for its anti-Israel rhetoric — was not actually named in the strategy, just in the corresponding fact sheet. “They are not in the strategy. They are not mentioned in the strategy. They were listed in a supplemental document as one of the many independent organizations making commitments,” said the source. The fact sheet said CAIR will help educate religious communities about security. Other organizations named as “stakeholders” in the fact sheet include National Urban League, the Asian American Foundation, UnidosUS, the Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, the Interfaith Alliance and the Recording Academy.
Still troubling: “We don’t agree with every decision the White House made in crafting this strategy. The decision to consult CAIR is one of them,” an ADL spokesperson told JI. William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, echoed the source who had insight into the drafting of the document, saying, “CAIR Is not in the White House plan. They were listed in a separate fact sheet of organizations that committed to take action.” Yet Daroff noted that it was still “deeply troubling” that CAIR “is included as anything other than as an organization that definitively traffics in antisemitic tropes and propounds policies of anti-Zionism that are antisemitic.”
Hidden treasure
How baby boomers and Gen Alpha can help each other on mental health
“During this Mental Health Awareness Month, which coincides with both Older Americans Month and Jewish American Heritage Month, we need to explore ways to strengthen ties between the generations in the interest of improving mental health and well-being for all,” write Kate Greene and Shelley Rood Wernick, professionals at the Jewish Federations of North America, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.
Jewish tradition: “For a new approach to this problem, our community needs to look to Jewish tradition, which places great emphasis on the role that young people and grandparents play in each other’s lives… We both work at the Jewish Federations of North America; one of us strengthens the network of mental health and well-being resources that are available for young people through the BeWell Initiative, and the other directs the Center on Holocaust Survivor Care and Institute on Aging and Trauma.”
Demographic differences: “The two of us have very different vantage points on mental health issues facing the Jewish community. We recognize that there are significant differences between the age groups that we work with. For instance, online bullying is more of a factor impacting youth well-being. Older adults, by contrast, often suffer from isolation when friends and family pass away and when their mobility is limited due to lack of transportation or physical limitations.”
Culture problem: “But there’s one thing we readily agree upon: these two groups can help each other. Depression, anxiety, isolation and other painful emotional issues cut across the age spectrum. But the reasons why people refrain from asking for help are often similar and are linked to the shame that our culture makes us feel about suffering from emotional pain.”
Worthy Reads
Killing the DJ: In The New Yorker, Evan Osnos examines the practice of hiring top performers for private concerts to celebrate birthdays, weddings and bar mitzvahs. “On this evening, [the rapper Flo Rida] had journeyed north on business: he was playing a bar mitzvah, for a thirteen-year-old boy and three dozen of his friends, in the well-to-do Chicago suburb of Lincolnshire. The bar-mitzvah boy, [Andrew,] in keeping with the customs of his forebears, had chanted his way into adulthood; then, following a more recent tradition, the celebrants had relocated to a warehouse-size event venue that is highly regarded on Chicago’s mitzvah circuit… The entertainment had been arranged by Andrew’s father, an executive at a financial-services company. At first, he had doubted that Flo Rida, his son’s favorite artist, would agree to come, but an agent informed him that most big-name musicians are available these days, under the right conditions.” [NewYorker]
We Need $1 Million by Tomorrow: In The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Rasheeda Childress warns nonprofits against setting unrealistic fundraising goals and offers ideas on how to raise money more effectively. “Peter Frumkin, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who teaches about nonprofits and philanthropy, has seen a lot when it comes to fundraising. In his 20 years of working as an executive and a consultant for nonprofits, he’s seen organizations put expectations on fundraisers that are ‘absolutely wrong and unhelpful.’ Frumkin is not alone in his view. Last fall, when the Chronicle conducted its survey of fundraiser job satisfaction, the second leading concern among fundraisers planning to leave the field was unreasonable expectations about fundraising goals. ‘Every fundraiser I know is stressed, understaffed and cannot fill open positions, struggling with unrealistic fundraising goals,’ a Wisconsin director of philanthropy said in the open-ended comments of the survey.” [ChronicleofPhilanthropy]
Around the Web
The trial of the Tree of Life synagogue shooter began yesterday in Pittsburgh with opening statements and the testimonies of a 911 dispatcher and the congregation’s leader, Rabbi Jeffrey Myers…
More than 300 Reform Jewish clergy, educators and synagogue lay leaders are attending a first-of-its-kind forum to address the central challenges facing the North American Reform movement. The event is being held at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York City…
The Bronfman Fellowship, founded in 1987 by former Seagram Company CEO Edgar M. Bronfman, has selected its 37th cohort of rising seniors for its fellowship-year experience beginning this summer in the U.S. and Israel…
A new civil trial alleging sexual abuse by former Melbourne school principal Malka Leifer has been averted after a last-minute settlement was reached. Leifer was found guilty last month of 18 sexual abuse offences against two former students at the Adass Israel School between 2003 and 2007…
Hillel Deutschland launched the Landecker-Hillel Leadership Incubator, an initiative for 18- to 28-year-old members of Germany’s Jewish communities. Applications for the program are by nomination only…
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centerannounced a $40 million gift from Henry R. Kravis. Made in honor of Kravis’ wife, the gift will establish the Marie-Josée Kravis Center for Cancer Immunobiology…
More than $35 million has been committed to nonprofit organizations in support of New York’s Asian American and Pacific Islander community…
The chancellor of the City University of New York, Felix Matos Rodríguez, denounced a speech made by a graduate of the university’s law school, in which she harshly criticized Israel. Jewish groups and local politicians sharply denounced the speech when a video of it surfaced earlier this week…
Entrepreneur and professor at Harvard Medical School, Tim Springer, his wife, Chafen Lu, and their children, donated $210 million to the Institute for Protein Innovation, to advance protein science and accelerate research to improve human health…
??The Ms. Foundation for Women received a $50 million estate gift from Chicago philanthropist and photographer Lucia Woods Lindley. The gift will support programs that aim to strengthen women’s rights and assist nonprofits that help women and children…
The University of Massachusetts Boston announced a $5 million commitment from alumnus and tech entrepreneur Paul English to establish an artificial intelligence institute as well as an associated scholarship fund…
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust announced a three-year, $2 million grant to the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai to expand a community-based doula program…
Two reports from the Philanthropy Europe Association detail the practice of philanthropy across Europe, including engagement with diversity, equity and inclusion and the growing but limited interest in funding projects that address climate change…
Pic of the Day
Over 400 returning counselors, staff members and year-round professionals, representing over 60 Jewish overnight camps, wrapped up four days at Foundation for Jewish Camp’s 21st annual Cornerstone Fellowship Seminar, held last week at Capital Camps in Waynesboro, Pa.
Birthdays
Singer and songwriter famous for his lead role in the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, he campaigned for freeing Soviet Jews in the 1980s, Peter Yarrow…
Investment advisor at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, Alfred Phillip Stern… Industrialist and philanthropist, Ira Leon Rennert… Professor at Yale University and the 2018 winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, William Dawbney Nordhaus… Food critic at Vogue magazine since 1989 and judge on “Iron Chef America,” he is the author of the 1996 award-winning book The Man Who Ate Everything, Jeffrey Steingarten… Founder and retired CEO of the Democratic Leadership Council, Alvin “Al” From… Author, political pundit and a retired correspondent for HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” Bernie Goldberg… Comedian, actress and TV producer, Susie Essman… Founder and chairman of the Katz Group of Companies, Daryl Katz… Reality television personality, she starred in “The Millionaire Matchmaker” on Bravo TV, Patti Stanger… Founder, chairman and CEO of CyberArk Software, Alon Nisim Cohen… Co-founder of CryptoLogic, Andrew Rivkin… Former Democratic mayor of Annapolis, Md., now head of policy at SWTCH, Joshua Jackson “Josh” Cohen… Assistant director of community outreach at the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, Melissa York… Israeli actress, singer and dancer, Liraz Charhi… Author of the “Money Stuff” column at Bloomberg Opinion, Matthew S. Levine… Freelance writer in Brooklyn, Sara Trappler Spielman… Attorney and NYT-bestselling author of the Mara Dyer and Shaw Confessions series, Michelle Hodkin… Former head of public policy and regulatory affairs at Zoox, Bert Eli Kaufman… Zoe Goldfarb… Stephanie Oreck Weiss… Media exec, Brad E. Bosserman… Senior rabbi and executive director of Jewish life at D.C.’s Sixth & I, Aaron Potek… Allbritton Journalism Institute’s Matt Berman… Medical student at the University of Nicosia Medical School, Amital Isaac… Brad Goldstein… Basketball player in Israel’s Premier League, Spencer Weisz… Rapper, singer, songwriter and producer, known by his stage name, King Sol, Benjamin Solomon…
