Anti-Defamation League

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), originally known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith ("B'nai B'rith" meaning "Order of the Covenant" or "Order of the Cut", referring to circumcision) a Jewish organization founded in 1913 that seeks to fight anti-Semitism. Its stated mission is described as:

“

The immediate object of the League is to stop, by appeals to reason and conscience and, if necessary, by appeals to law, the defamation of the Jewish people. Its ultimate purpose is to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike and to put an end forever to unjust and unfair discrimination against and ridicule of any sect or body of citizen.

”

To dismay of conservatives, Jewish or not, It became in recent years pro left-wing tendencies with some issues. For example, its general stance on prayer in secular schools is that it is "unconstitutional." The ADL also has a record of supporting gay rights, the separation of church and state, hate crimes legislation, abortion and partial-birth abortion. There is also evidence to suggest that the founders may have been Fabian socialists.

Post 2016

Glenn Greenwald noted:

"Like so many institutions of authority in the United States after 2016, which entailed the dual traumas of the UK's departure from the EU, and then the far more traumatic defeat of Hillary Clinton by Donald Trump, the ADL has now radically transformed into something much, much different. Indeed, in many ways, it has become an utterly fraudulent organization. Its work now has very little to do with combating antisemitism. That's just the marketing costume or the pretext it uses to wield power. The real mission of the ADL could not be clearer. It's to advance the interests of the Democratic Party to ensure the empowerment of Democratic Party leaders and to protect and preserve the dominant ideology that the establishment wings of both political parties are devoted to – in particular, to protect the status quo ideology from meaningful dissent and populist anger."

Criticism

The League has been criticized for attacking politically conservative Jews such as Dr. Laura Schlessinger. The Jewish World Review stated that the League was "demonizing exponents of Jewish values", while the National Prayer Network held that the ADL's past legislative involvement "empowered synagogue to mix with state by authorizing itself to teach the US Justice Department, FBI and all local police about hate crimes."

In addition, it, or at least the former head Abraham Foxman, was also accused of being heavily biased regarding Judaism, especially when they failed to call out controversy for the anti-Catholic film 40 Days and 40 Nights.

In spite of claiming it is against anti-Semitism, the ADL under Foxman allows Muslims to spread anti-Semitic rhetoric as well as allowing inter-faith audiences with Muslim groups (to the extent of demanding that "Sharia myth makers" be silenced), and not only covered up the Armenian Genocide, but Foxman even fired Andrew Tarsy for breaking ranks on this issue, and has even condemned Pope Benedict XVI for siding with Israel against Radical Islam. In one case, he even awarded a known anti-Semite, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the "Courage to Care Award." In addition, the ADL under Foxman was responsible for getting Marc Rich pardoned by Bill Clinton in the latter's infamous last minute pardons due to being paid by Rich $250,000 beforehand. The ADL under Foxman also promoted Obama's pro-Palestinian policies since 2011, even demanding that congressmen who were expressing concerns about Islamic lobbying stop engaging in "anti-Islamic conspiracy theories", and even advocated for J Street to be included among major Jewish organizations despite their siding with John Kerry's reference to Israel as "Apartheid".

The ADL used to be a noble force on fighting anti-Semitism, focused. Greenblatt, has immersed himself in wokenesss among other things which is outside this realm and its sad. It still does important work. But this politics-driven is harming it.

Criticism by Elon Musk

"A tweet posted by @breakingbaht on [Nov 23] read: “Jewish communties [sic] have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them.”

The billionaire owner and CTO of X, formerly Twitter, responded the same evening: “You have said the actual truth.” In another reply, he wrote: “I am deeply offended by ADL’s messaging and any other groups who push de facto anti-white racism or anti-Asian racism or racism of any kind.” Musk has feuded with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) before, threatening to sue over its accounting of hate speech on his social media network."

June 2024 Arab led lobbies on Wikipedia

How Wikipedia’s Pro-Hamas Editors Hijacked the Israel-Palestine Narrative. (Arab lobby).

In June 2024, a coordinated operation on Wikipedia by a linked anti-Israel Arab "palestine" operatives groups/lobbies shielded by radical liberals (having a grip on Wikipedia for long, applying double standard, recenly "improved" using tricks,), have succeeded finally in banning ADL with relation to Israel "Palestine."

October-2025 (Patel)

In Sep. 2025, it has become the target of an escalating rightwing pressure campaign—one that intensified on Oct 1, when FBI Director Kash Patel publicly denounced the group and announced the agency would sever ties with the nonprofit.

Patel’s announcement followed several days of mounting attacks by rightwing influencers and Elon Musk, who criticized the ADL over its online extremism database. The database included a page on the late far-right commentator Charlie Kirk’s organization, Turning Point USA (TPUSA), and detailed its links to extremist figures. On Tuesday, in response to the backlash, the ADL deleted its entire Glossary of Extremism—a flagship resource that contained over 1,000 entries on individuals, groups, and movements associated with hateful ideologies. The move failed to quell criticism.

This latest controversy has placed the 112-year-old organization in a precarious position. For years, the ADL has grappled with internal strife and accusations of compromising its core values in efforts to appease, in their words, Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Now, it found itself under fire from the very conservative forces it once sought to accommodate.

How did the ADL backlash begin?

Over the weekend in end of Sep/2025, several high-profile rightwing accounts began circulating screenshots of the ADL’s entry on TPUSA, attacking the organization for including Kirk’s group in its extremism glossary. One of the earliest posts—by a self-described “Twitter troll”—accused the ADL of having “blood on their hands.”

Importantly, the ADL did not label TPUSA as an extremist group. Rather, it documented incidents in which the organization’s leadership or affiliated activists had either aligned with known extremists or made “racist or bigoted comments.” Nevertheless, other rightwing influencers joined in, further amplifying the criticism. Some circulated a screenshot of the ADL’s page on the Christian Identity movement—a violent white supremacist ideology that advocates for a racial holy war against Jews and other minorities—misrepresenting it as evidence that the ADL was anti-Christian.

The campaign gained broader momentum on Sunday night when Elon Musk, who owns X (formerly Twitter) began engaging with and echoing these attacks.

“The ADL hates[sic] Christians, therefore it is a hate group,” Musk wrote in response to an X account known for anti-immigrant rhetoric. In another post, he implied that the ADL’s activities had incited murder.

After several days of mounting pressure—including from Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna, who accused the ADL of “creating a targeted hate campaign against Christians”—the organization announced on Sep 30, that it had removed its Glossary of Extremism from its website. The ADL had previously promoted the glossary as “the most comprehensive and intuitive resource on extremist speech currently available to the public.” In a statement, the organization framed the decision as part of a broader strategy to “explore new strategies and creative approaches to deliver our data and present our research more effectively.”

A history of pressure—and a new escalation

While the ADL has weathered similar campaigns from rightwing activists in the past—including attacks from Chaya Raichik of the influential Libs of TikTok account in 2023—none previously resulted in such a drastic response, such as deleting an entire database.

Failure to stem the backlash

Despite what appeared to be a concession to Musk and his allies, the campaign against the ADL only escalated. Less than 24 hours after the glossary’s removal, FBI Director Kash Patel announced on X that the Bureau would cut ties with the ADL. He accused the organization of spying on conservative groups and condemned former FBI Director James Comey for his prior praise of the group. The ADL had maintained a long-standing partnership with law enforcement agencies, offering training on antisemitism, Holocaust education, and intelligence on extremist groups.

“James Comey wrote ‘love letters’ to the ADL and embedded FBI agents with them – a group that ran disgraceful ops spying on Americans,” Patel posted. “That era is OVER. This FBI won’t partner with political fronts masquerading as watchdogs.”

According to a press release issued by the ADL on Oct 2 the organization has not received any formal notice from the Trump administration regarding the termination of its FBI partnership and is currently seeking clarification.

“ADL has deep respect for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and law enforcement officers at all levels across the country who work tirelessly every single day to protect all Americans regardless of their ancestry, religion, ethnicity, faith, political affiliation, or any other point of difference,” the statement read.

The campaign against the ADL is unfolding within a broader conservative effort to punish individuals and organizations that have criticized Charlie Kirk. Conservative activists claim to have targeted tens of thousands of people who either condemned Kirk or reacted positively to his death. One group declared: “We will reshape the rank-and-file of America’s institutions.”

Following the ADL’s deletion of its extremism glossary, Musk and other rightwing influencers turned their attention to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), another prominent civil rights and anti-extremism watchdog. The SPLC has also reported on TPUSA’s ties to far-right extremism. Musk labeled the SPLC an “evil organization” and asserted that it “needs to be shut down.”

External links

• Anti-Defamation League official site